Other columnists get to write about their boyfriends, but because I’m lacking in that department, I feel it’s fair to substitute my love: soccer.

This past week the Northwestern women’s soccer team lost 3-0 to Penn State at the Big Ten Tournament.

But the score doesn’t even come close to telling the story, as scores have a tendency to do. The score doesn’t account for the numerous hard tackles, bruises suffered and shots cracked or the headers won by the NU team. The score doesn’t tell how we dominated the second half. Certainly, the score won’t convey the real game we gave Penn State, who is ranked in the top 10 nationally.

And the score can never show the dedication each and every girl on the team has put in every day since Aug. 15. For most of the seniors, that is Aug. 15, 1998.

By a few odd twists of fate, I ended up joining the soccer team January of my junior year. Unorthodox, I admit. As a new player, I had no inkling of what I was up against.

I’m not referring to the physical demands. Although if anyone would have informed me about the number of suicides I would someday be required to run, specifically those on the day after Halloween, I would have never shown up to the first day of practice.

What I really didn’t know I was in for was to be so completely impressed with a group of people.

When I joined the team, I entered a different world. I saw my life completely changed, more than just having to wear the requisite gray hooded sweatshirt.

Every day since, I have been lucky enough to see my teammates train with competitiveness only true passion brings. Everything, even handstands, are a challenge for a group of girls who will not settle for being second. They push themselves to their physical, emotional and mental limits for that passion. Honestly, I can say I have never seen any of them give up, not in fitness, not in practice, not in a game. They devote endless hours to soccer, leaving other priorities far behind. Traveling almost every weekend, they are forced to adapt to a nomadic lifestyle.

I have seen the words commitment, dedication and love defined in the actions of my teammates.

You might think it’s ridiculous to pursue soccer with such focus and intensity. If it were just soccer, I would probably agree with you. But it’s definitely about a higher purpose. My teammates have given me the opportunity to be a part of something greater than any individual pursuit I might have chosen in its place. I cannot explain how much I owe these girls. Aside from my best friends, nothing at NU has meant so much to me as this team, as them.

Certainly, I have learned more about life on the soccer field than in any classroom. I hope everyone else can have an experience like this at least once in his or her life. Some of our losses this year made people cry. I say that should be everyone’s goal: to invest yourself so much in something that it can bring you to tears. Because really, what are the tears but a testament to how much something means to you? So, find your arena, whatever it may be, because life is a lot more rewarding when you truly compete.