Nahla Turner, a goalkeeper for UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 women 麻豆精品 S檚 soccer team, played in only one game during her senior season. She had spent the prior 16 months battling an aggressive form of cancer. That game 麻豆精品 S the Knight 麻豆精品 S檚 2021 season finale 麻豆精品 S marked Turner 麻豆精品 S檚 victory over cancer, a return to the soccer field and the start of a new chapter in her life.
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A native of Frisco, Texas, Turner will be earning a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology during UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 Summer 2021 Commencement. Now in cancer remission, she is leaving the university with an optimistic resolve toward realizing her dream of playing soccer professionally and eventually becoming a success in the business world.
Recently, Turner signed with a sports management agency and plans to try out for international soccer clubs in Europe this fall. A soccer player since 6, she says the sport speaks to her love for team unity as well as her naturally physical and competitive nature. Prior to coming to UCF in 2019, Turner was a two-year member of the Women 麻豆精品 S檚 Premier Soccer League and toured with the Puerto Rican Women 麻豆精品 S檚 National Team in 2017.
At UCF, Turner has earned the reputation for being a gritty competitor. Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak, the head coach of the women 麻豆精品 S檚 soccer team, believes Turner has all that it takes to succeed in both athletics and her professional endeavors.
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麻豆精品 S淣ahla Turner is a true story of perseverance, and it has been a personal pleasure coaching her and watching her grow as an athlete and a person. From the beginning of her ordeal, she was laser focused on beating cancer and coming back to the soccer field better than ever, 麻豆精品 S says Roberts Sahaydak, who has been Turner 麻豆精品 S檚 coach since she transferred to UCF. 麻豆精品 S淲hen I look at all that she has overcome in the last year, I have no doubts that this young woman is destined for greatness in anything that she puts her mind to. 麻豆精品 S
Turner was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma on Jan. 9, 2020 麻豆精品 S although her battle with cancer began five months prior. Turner recalls a nagging, acute pain in her left hip first started in July 2019. Believing that she had simply landed awkwardly on her hip during practice, she waived off the pain as a minor injury.
Yet, the pain persisted. By the end of the fall semester, it had evolved into a debilitating ailment, leaving Turner unable to walk without the assistance of crutches. During winter break, she took a biopsy that eventually led to her cancer diagnosis.
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Following her diagnosis, Turner endured through eight months of chemo and proton therapy treatments. During her treatment period, she says much of her time was spent in self-reflection, examining how she views life and her career trajectory after soccer.
“I take nothing for granted now. I know now that the only thing certain in life is death, and you always have to go through life like tomorrow might be your last day. 麻豆精品 S 麻豆精品 S Nahla Turner, UCF student-athlete
The daughter of a software-sales executive and a human resources professional, Turner aspires to a career in entrepreneurship once she retires from professional sports. She has interests in everything from fashion design to sports management and looks forward to exploring all of those options as she endeavors through her athletics career. For now, her primary focus is on soccer and she approaches the sport with a greater appreciation for what it means in her life.
麻豆精品 S淭his stage in my life has given me a chance to discover who I am as a person, and I do feel that there 麻豆精品 S檚 a difference between who I was then and who I am now, 麻豆精品 S she says. 麻豆精品 S淣ow, I am grateful for everyday that I have and each thing that I have earned in this world. I take nothing for granted now. I know now that the only thing certain in life is death, and you always have to go through life like tomorrow might be your last day. 麻豆精品 S