Learning here is in a class by itself

Caitlin Marquis, Special to the News

Published December 20, 2005 at midnight

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My high school was unusual.

I hung out with Freddy Adu. Studied with Paula Creamer. Worked out next to Jennifer Capriati. Went to Winter Ball with Jonathan Spector, who now plays with Manchester United.

At IMG, everyone is there for one reason, and that's to play sports. Everyone is driven by sports.

I went there because the soccer situation in Boulder wasn't getting me anywhere. During that first year, all my friends were going to dances, football games and all that kind of stuff at Fairview High School.

When you're 15 and living in the dorms, it's sort of scary. There are always times you want to bag things. The hardest part is when January and February come around and you don't have any games. It's all practice - and they are hard, 3 1/2-hour practices.

But you learn from being around such unusual people. Freddy Adu was an amazingly mature player for his age. But when you hang out with him, he's really funny and likes to goof around. We'd get in tennis ball fights. We'd just sit around and talk about whatever. We were trying to be normal high school kids.

Paula Creamer and I sat together in class; we always fooled around. Before a test, we'd quiz each other, prepare together. Paula was amazing - she was always working in the weight room, the range. She had extra motivation because she knew she was turning pro before graduating from high school.

All the big football players come in before the combines. One day, Jennifer Capriati was on the bike next to me. I was like, "Wow."

Michael Johnson comes down and works with people. You can just go up and ask him questions. It's the same with all the pro athletes - as long as you don't interrupt their training. The pros know what you're going through, so they'll give you pointers.

I was really starstruck; it was a huge part of my time at the academy. But the friendships I made with the people at the academy is the thing that I will remember - the times we spent in the weight room, the times we spent playing, the times we spent hanging out being normal kids, just being around people who shared a common goal, each chasing a dream.

At IMG, everyone knew everyone. They see you at your best and they see you at your worst - sitting in the cafeteria, drenched in sweat. We had dances, we went on beach trips and we went to the mall.

I guess I kind of did it backward: I went away for high school at IMG Academies, then came home to Boulder to play soccer at Colorado. But I wouldn't do it any differently.

If I hadn't gone to IMG, I wouldn't be nearly as confident and well-rounded as I am now - as both a soccer player and person. Things would haven been a lot different.

Caitlin Marquis, who was named best defensive player as a junior and senior at IMG Academies in Bradenton, Fla., is a freshman defender at the University of Colorado.

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