Miller balances athletics and academics

Jennifer Miller. Photo by Ellen O’Nan, Ole Miss Athletics

By Morgan Goff and Ole Miss Athletics Media Relations

ennifer Miller is a senior midfielder for the Ole Miss soccer team. Miller is also a University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy professional student. These accomplishments are not easy, but she somehow finds a way to balance both.

“Jenn is in pharmacy school now and earned her undergraduate degree in three years as a 4.0 student,” said Ole Miss head soccer coach Matthew Mott. “She’s been really special to us here.”

Miller, a St. Louis, Missouri, native, arrived on campus as a freshman, unsure of her ultimate career goal. However, she always knew she had a love for the sciences, which drew her toward majoring in biology. As she began to learn more and more, her path became clear.

“Freshman year, I spent a lot of time shadowing doctors, nurses and pharmacists,” she said. “During my sophomore year, I really decided that pharmacy school was what I wanted to do. From there I planned everything out so that I could attend pharmacy school.”

Miller has never stopped reaching new feats both on and off the field. She has spent the last several years as a student-athlete competing in the Southeastern Conference, where each day the competition never wavers in excellence and the desire to excel rarely leaves a student-athlete’s mind.

During her freshman campaign, Miller played in 16 games for Ole Miss. By her sophomore year, she was a regular starter. Miller played a total of 2,032 minutes and started all 24 matches in 2013, scoring four goals to help lead the Rebels to the best season in program history and an NCAA Tournament berth. Her persistence continued to pay off during her junior season. Once again, Miller started every match, totaling 18 games.

The amount of time Miller spends on the field shows her character. Her leadership and dedication are evident to everyone around her. Because of these qualities, she has been a team captain as a junior and now as a senior.

“We call her the wizard because when she gets the ball she does something special with it,” Mott said. “She is able to see things that other players don’t. She is just so cerebral.”

Miller also has a true passion for her sport. When her junior year came to an end, and it was time to enter pharmacy school, there was a decision to be made. Miller had one year left of eligibility to play soccer, and she was not yet ready to give up her sport.

“You only get four years to play a college sport,” she said. “I wasn’t ready to give up soccer. I know that I’m going to miss soccer so much when it is over, so I wanted to enjoy it as long as possible. I knew that it would be hard balancing both soccer and pharmacy school, but I wanted to be able to play for my full four years.”

Pharmacy school requires intense focus and commitment. How would she balance both pharmacy school and being a student-athlete? Miller knew she would be able to find a way to make it work, and she has developed a system for her daily grind.

“The advice that they gave us when we were coming into pharmacy school was to treat it as an 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. job,” Miller said. “That actually really helps, especially with our practices being at night. I’m able to get up in the morning and start studying before I go to class. Then, I go to soccer and as soon as I get home from soccer, I start studying again. It is really a lot of time management and planning.”

Miller has played more than 5,000 minutes throughout her career as a Rebel. With Ole Miss rolling through another season, Miller has started all 10 matches thus far, and she doesn’t plan to slow down anytime soon. She sets the bar high and knows she is fully capable of accomplishing all of her goals both on and off the pitch. She is also aware of how much work and time this requires from her.

“A lot of times during the summer, (strength) coach Randall Dorvin talks about using self-talk to get us through running,” Miller said. “I definitely do a lot of self-talk throughout the day, knowing that I am doing what I need to do.”