Throughout the 2009-2010 academic year, the Northeast-10 and its member institutions will be featuring student-athletes across the conference in the brand new ‘Student-Athlete Spotlight’ section on the Northeast-10 website. Our seventh installment, submitted by Kelley Ruch, Sports Information Intern at Saint Michael's College, features women's soccer player Teal Bryan.

By Kelley Ruch, Saint Michael's

[Click Here to View Photos From Teal's Experience in Ghana]

While most student-athletes finished up their final months of high school—making lasting memories with friends, planning graduation parties, taking exams and gearing up for their first year of college—Teal Bryan was in Ghana, being asked by an 11-year-old orphan if she would adopt him.

“I just remember him [Derrick] pulling me aside and asking me in his innocent voice if I could adopt him,” Bryan said. “I was only 18 years old at the time and never imagined being confronted with a situation like that. It broke my heart to have to explain to him that I was unable to, however, I was incredibly touched that he wanted me, out of all people, to bring him back to America.”

Bryan had only been a volunteer at the Eugemot Orphanage for two months when this situation occurred. She had cut her senior year short, graduating early from Greely High School in Cumberland, Maine in order to volunteer at the orphanage. Through Cross Cultural Solutions, a New York-based non-profit organization, Bryan spent 10 weeks in the Volta region of Ghana, teaching classes and caring for 50 orphans who ranged in age from eight months to 16 years.

Bryan returned to the States in time to prepare for Saint Michael’s College and her first season with the Purple Knights soccer team. She proved herself to her teammates and the coaching staff in no time, having the type of personality that drew teammates to her, and finishing her rookie season with 15 points and tied for first on the team with six goals.

“When I returned back to the States, I missed the laid-back and carefree lifestyle [of Ghana]. I had a hard time with the reverse cultural shock. A strong part of me wanted to return to the sublime Ghanaian life and escape the modern world of materialism.”

Above all, it was the children from the orphanage who she had come to care for unconditionally that fueled her motivation to return to the country. After her freshman year of college, Bryan did just that. She returned to Ghana last summer for seven weeks, although this time she organized the volunteer mission herself.

“I wanted to stay at the Orphanage to challenge myself and really become more of a family member to the children. If I had stayed with friends or at a hotel I would have been privileged with running hot water and a room to myself. However, staying at the orphanage challenged me to endure living how most Ghanaians do.”

The Eugemot Orphanage, where Bryan lived and worked for seven weeks, housed 50 orphans and was comprised of a boy’s bedroom, a girl’s bedroom, a common room, small kitchen, and a bedroom for the house mother. Her meals consisted of vegetables, and either rice or pasta as her starch and beef or chicken for protein. Dinner was consistently at 5:30 p.m. each night, after which Bryan and Derrick would wash the dishes outside in buckets and tubs as he shared with her tidbits of the Ghanaian culture and his perspective of life in the orphanage.

During her first trip to Ghana, Bryan taught a fourth grade class—eight boys and one girl. When she arrived, she was unaware she would play such a substantial teaching role.

“I had imagined being more of an assistant or “babysitter” and certainly hadn’t prepared myself for when the teacher handed the entire class over to me on my first day. When I returned this summer, their last few months of school were while I was there and my class from last year begged me to be their teacher again.”

Living at the orphanage and being with the children all hours of the day meant more responsibilities for Bryan and less sleep. It meant she was always around to answer questions or help with homework, but in turn she received very little privacy and had to be mentally available all hours of the day.

“Every morning I woke up around 5 a.m. when the kids started their chores and spent the whole day from 8 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. teaching in the classroom. When school was out, I usually played on the park with the kids or took them to the riverside. Sometimes I would try to nap, but it was impossible with so many children screaming and running around. By the time late afternoon arrived, I was completely exhausted, physically and mentally.”

With preseason just weeks away from when she was expected to return to the States, Bryan understood that there could be no excuses for not being in shape for the season.

“I knew I couldn’t come into preseason out of shape. I would have disappointed [head coach Marcel Choquette] and let my teammates down,” Bryan said. “Motivating myself was by far the hardest aspect of working out. Running in hot and humid weather with asthma is difficult in the first place, let alone when I am exhausted.”

Although she was most worn out at this time of day, Bryan usually ran in the late afternoon, once the rain had fallen and cooled the temperature and humidity a few degrees.

“The sky always seemed to have a thin layer of clouds that magnified the sun and when it would set, it would cast an orange hue,” Bryan recalls. “The land was flat, primarily made of low plains. There were a few villages nearby, but one would never know they were there because they are far in the bushes. I sometimes felt as though I was running in the rainforest with all of the palm trees and tropical vegetation.”

Bryan would designate tree trunks along her route to sprint between, since telephone poles are a rare commodity in that area. Heads would turn in her direction every time she would run by and Bryan would soon be joined by excited children who would try to keep pace with her until they were out of breath.

“Many kids walked miles to school and I would see them walking home with their book bags. Women would be heading home from the market with baskets of fruit and vegetables on their heads and men would be returning from the farm with machetes in their hands.”

You won’t often meet a 19-year-old who trains for preseason in an atmosphere such as the one pictured, however it may be just as uncommon to come across a 19-year-old as altruistic and benevolent as Bryan.

“In all of my years of being involved in college athletics, I've never seen a story quite as remarkable as this one,” said Marcel Choquette, the Purple Knights women’s soccer head coach. “She is someone who is so selfless and genuinely cares and wants to make the world a better place.”

Bryan’s unselfishness continued on the field when she returned to the States. As a starting midfielder, she led the Purple Knights in assists and finished second on the team in points for the 2009 season.

“As a player, teammate, and leader, I definitely gained a lot of confidence through my experience in Ghana. Working as a teacher helped me develop more leadership skills and responsibilities. I learned to be more patient and respectful of the differences among individuals. I also realized that soccer is not about winning; it is about having fun and enjoying time with the team. I used to always get upset over losses, but now I try to look on the positive side: that I was privileged enough to have the opportunity to play. The children at the orphanage would give anything to be in my shoes.”