When you go to interview a college athlete, the first thing you expect to come up is their passion for their sport. As Rylee Iorio, senior math major, and I walk through the reflective bleachers of the Union soccer field, looking for a shaded spot to sit and interview, the first thing Rylee tells me about is her love for math.
“Math is something that’s challenged me,” she said. “I grew up and I actually, like, wasn’t that good at math. And so I think that kind of pushed me because I don’t like to be bad at things. So I was like, ‘I’m gonna prove that I’m good at it.’”
But as she tells me, it was more than just the challenge of math.
“You form these pieces, and you do the equation, and you have to set it up right, and you have to get your bounds right, and you get your function right, you have to keep your negatives right, and there’s so many little tiny, tiny little pieces that you have to worry about,” Rylee said. “But then when you get to the very end of the answer, and, and it’s right, you put a little box around it, it’s just like— that’s beautiful.”
Rylee and I sit beside each other on an aluminum bench, wedged into the shade created by the metal bleachers that rise to either side of us. In front of us, the long white lines of Union’s soccer pitch stretch their way forward stopping across the field under a banner that reads, “Bulldogs.” I’d imagine these lines are more than a familiar sight for Rylee— after all, by the time she earns her master’s degree next year she will have spent five years of her life playing soccer on this field.
“It’s challenging. And I always wanted to push myself to get to like, the highest level that I could,” Rylee told me as she looked out over the neatly cut grass. “That’s what I do. And like everything that I do, I try to push myself to the highest level.”
She’s telling me about her passion for soccer, but in the same breath, she’s talking about much more than that. For Rylee, college has meant wearing a lot of hats— lots of responsibilities.
“For a non-athlete, it’s social life and clubs and organizations, and then school,” Rylee said. “But for me, it’s social life, clubs and organizations, school, and soccer. And so most of the time what fell was my social life.”
It’s a lot for her to balance, but she doesn’t let this slow her down. And as she says, she doesn’t shy away from a challenge.
For Rylee, soccer is both a passion and a means to an end— a means to keep pushing herself. While it’s a lot to balance, soccer is what helps Rylee pay for school. She loves the sport, and playing collegiately allows her to pursue her other loves, namely studying math.
Now as her undergraduate years are coming to an end, Rylee’s hard work has begun to pay off.
“Yeah, it’s weird, because you come in as a freshman, and you look to the seniors, and you’re like, ‘oh, my gosh, you’re so much older than I, and so much wiser,’— and then now I’m a senior, I’m going to be a fifth year. And I’m like, ‘Oh, my gosh, do they look at me how I looked at seniors?’”
I ask her if she feels wiser.
“Do I feel wise? I don’t think so,” she laughed.
In an odd way, the Covid pandemic has offered Rylee an interesting opportunity. Because the pandemic struck during Rylee’s freshman year, every athlete that missed a year of sport has the opportunity to compete for a fifth year. For Rylee, this means an opportunity to pursue a Master’s degree.
“I wasn’t planning on taking it at all last season, really, until about the very like, last three, four ish games,” but something changed her mind.. “I was just like, ‘I’m not done yet.’ Like, I’m not, I’m not ready to get off the field. Like I’m still, I still like want to play, and I want to win.”
I asked if she would have attempted a Master’s without soccer and she told me probably not. Soccer has helped her afford her MBA and she feels that having this degree will set her apart in the business and math world. Her master’s degree will set her up for success.
With so much on the horizon, it makes you wonder what plans Rylee has for after college.
“Future for me is like next year,” she laughed. “I probably won’t start thinking about what I actually want to do until after I finish next season. That’s kind of what I’m focused on— because it’s funny, I am graduating, so obviously, you get the question,
‘what are you going to do after you graduate?’, and it’s like,
‘I’m gonna go back and play.’
Like, ‘okay, what are you gonna do after that?’
‘I’m gonna go back and play!’” she laughed again.
“That’s all I’m thinking. But I’m expectant for what the Lord has in store because I know that he’s gotten me to where I need to be now. And I’m so happy with where I am now. I’m saying another year, so obviously, I’m happy. And so I know he’s been faithful through that so he will be faithful with wherever I ended up after,” Rylee said.