Imagine being able to play your favorite sport not just in high school, by all throughout college as well. Sports have been the center of attention for many athletes hoping to punch their ticket to college. Seniors Emily Ribatt, Liz Dumas and Rory Conway have had their work paid off, as they all are college committed athletes.

Senior Liz Dumas never imagined that signing up for recreational soccer in preschool would eventually lead her to being fully committed to a school her junior year, while her classmates were still stressing about SAT scores

For senior Emily Ribatt, playing college soccer was less of something she wished for since she was a kid, but something that she discovered was in her reach.

“I hit a point where I knew I could get better at things and I sort of committed myself to wanting to improve and that gave me the opportunity to consider playing soccer in college,” Ribatt said.

Dumas fell in love with the sport as a preschooler, and this propelled her to keep playing all through her high school and soon college career.

“I played a lot of different sports when I was young and then I kind of just fell in love with the game as I got older and continued to play,” Dumas said.

While many committed athletes often need time to decide which school they want to go to, it was a no brainer for senior soccer player Rory Conway, who will be attending Harvard University next fall.

“I couldn’t see myself saying no to Harvard,” Conway said.

On top of its location and size, Fairfield university’s, strong nursing program is what made Dumas choose the school over other D1 options.

“I wanted to be close to home, but wanted to get out of Boston,” Dumas said.

Choosing possible schools is stressful enough, but committed athletes also have to go through the often arduous task of getting recruited. The recruitment process is often different for every athlete, but Ribatt believes she had a unique experience with Wesleyan University in Connecticut.

“I had a very unusual process I’d say with Wesleyan,” Ribatt said. “The coach at Wesleyan was the first coach I met and the first school I visited. I honestly fell in love with the school and then the coach and we sort of had an hour in meeting time and afterwards she cancelled her next meeting and she gave me a tour of the school and spent another two and a half hours together.”

Dumas and Conway committed to Fairfield and Harvard during junior year and confessed that even though the process was stressful, the time after being committed has been challenging too.

“I committed last December and since then it’s actually really stressful having to keep grades up, not getting in trouble and all that stuff,” Conway said.

The common target for Dumas, Conway and Ribatt is now preparing for their first college season. Being an incoming freshman and making a difference for the team right away is something Conway is focusing on.

“I am going to keep working my hardest. When I get there, I want to make an impact right away freshman year so I can’t really sit back.  I mean I could, but then I wouldn’t do well,” Conway said.

Dumas admitted slacking off would not be ideal in her situation and that keeping her grades up is a big part of her senior year. Aside from that, her absolute focus is prepping for college.

The relief that Ribatt has in being committed outweighs any concerns over missing opportunities in college due to playing soccer.

“So in that way it’s limiting but in comparison to how excited I am, it’s nothing,” Ribatt said.