Concussions are the most frequent sports injury cured by neurologists and the demand for sports neurologists increases significantly on the daily. Lizeth stands to work through the fifteen years of schooling, to treat people who have been through similar experiences as her. Lizeth Montiel Romero, varsity soccer player and Cafe member, is proud of who she is after overcoming obstacles that many couldn’t get through.
Lizeth has a stacked day consisting of AP classes, soccer, and college. Being a senior causes you to get lost in the fire, as “there’s so much going on sometimes, especially with AP classes. And especially this year, I’m on a roll, I don’t have any free time”. Cafe provides a distraction for Lizeth that is much needed during these times of stress and tight deadlines, as she says , “It’s so easy to get lost, and especially, like I’m saying, no distractions, you know it requires a lot of communicating with your peers. So I think that’s another thing that helps a lot.”
Lizeth has faced pretty difficult obstacles that weaken her abilities. After enduring thirteen concussions in her life and seven just in her four years of high school from various sports, Lizeth struggles constantly with focusing on tasks and assignments but she still has many moments that make her proud of who she is. She says, “I think there’s many things, you know, still being here, I’m proud of myself for that, because after concussions and losing everything, it’s not easy.” Only twenty minutes into her first period cafe class, she states that “I’m already with an ice pack on my neck or my head, it’s just the symptoms. But I’ve been dealing with it since freshman year. Over time, it’s gotten manageable. I guess I just have a problem with knowing when to stop before I pass out.”
With the stressful times, Liz “was starting to feel left behind. And usually I would keep it all to myself, but I went to my counselor. I was like I can’t do this.” Life can be extremely overbearing sometimes, to the point you can’t seem to understand how you even made it as far as you have. Instead of giving up, Lizeth stayed strong and asked for help, as she could no longer do it alone. “I was just so proud of myself for asking for help,” she says, ”I’m always big on asking for help, you know, if you need help, ask for it. But it’s easier said than done.”
Despite the difficulties she’s experienced, Lizeth aspires to reach her dreams. She exclaims, with a big, pearly white smile on her face, “if God allows it, I’ll be a sports neurologist, which is like my main goal right now. I really want to be a sports neurologist, and then maybe, you know, we’ll see where life takes me”. Her dreams to be a sports neurologist stems from an early age, from the consistent, annoying concussions that filled her entire childhood, alongside soccer. “Soccer has definitely played a big part in my life. Like I said, I started playing when I was four. Most of the way I am comes from sports, you know, even just running. It’s taught me about endurance, and just more about myself.”
Soccer was always Lizeth’s favorite part of life. But, since injury, soccer has taken a halt in her life, allowing new opportunities to fill this gap. ‘I think now I prefer cooking over soccer, because I’m big on serving others and I try to do the most I can to serve others.” She continues with, “I get to see the enjoyment and the joy in other people’s faces and reactions when they try my food”. Joining Cafe and enrolling in the culinary classes in her freshman year provided Lizeth with an escape she would’ve never predicted she needed.
