Morgan’s Message club founder at Nansemond River High School, Anyia Woods shares how the Navy Seals, family, and a teacher shaped her discipline
The following essay was written by Nansemond River High School field hockey athlete Anyia Woods.
Woods participated in the 2025 Dr. Judith Benscoter Female Athlete Scholarship competition. The competition included an online and social media vote held in March.
Woods and Carlisle High School (Pennsylvania) senior Mo Gerber tied for third. FAN is publishing Mo Gerber’s essay this week.
Below is Woods essay page.
Name: Anyia Woods
State: Virginia
High School: Nansemond River High School
College: University of Iowa
As an elite athlete I’ve had the opportunity to travel all over the United States playing a sport that is dear to my heart, field hockey. Playing this sport has shown me the importance of commitment, discipline, and leadership.
I apply what I’ve learned from my sport to everyday life. While these traits came naturally to me because my parents are both U.S. Navy Veterans, there was always something more that I was longing to learn to better myself for others.
My parents are both Iraqi War Veterans which engrained the U.S. Navy’s cores values of honor, courage and commitment into my everyday life.
In my sport, I’ve had the honor of meeting many people including several Navy Seals parents. There was always one thing that one of the Navy Seal dads said to me that always stuck with me; “The only easy day was Yesterday”, now this being a very deep meaning for Seals, this saying is carved in my head as a sign to remember that if my life is easy that means I’m doing something wrong.
I was an actor in school, not in theater or musical arts, but a character everyone made me out to be. It took me two years to realize that the acting wasn’t going to heal me.
I remember the day like it was yesterday, I was in class after a horrible game the night before and expectations that were not met for my peers, and my English teacher asked me if I was ok. In that moment, I felt a calmness in me, feelings flew out of my mouth like vomit, feelings I didn’t even know I had, I felt a shiver over my shoulder.
A weight lifted.
It took one person, let me repeat that, it took ONE person. Someone I barely even knew, someone who barely even knew me. And that’s the day when I started speaking out. I realized I wasn’t crazy or dramatic, that I was normal.
There are others just like me. From there, I created a Morgan’s Message Club at my school, where my schoolmates can feel safe and not hidden inside of that dark cave.
Because any chance that I can get I will be that one person that I needed all of those years. Starting this club at my school has allowed me to help my peers know that, “It’s okay, to not be okay.”
Collaborating with other high school athletic teams within the region to help raise awareness about mental health and how the pressure is real but knowing you aren’t alone can save just one life.
As a sophomore in the class of 2025, I experienced the loss of a fellow classmate due to suicide. This club has allowed my peers to know we are here for them. I am honored to be the founder of the Nansemond River High School Morgan’s Message Club.
I am a survivor, I am a warrior, I am strong, I am no longer an actor, but I am a director.
I AM ME
Earning a scholarship would alleviate some of the financial burden of my education, by allowing me to focus on my academic goals of becoming a successful Neurologist without the stress of taking part in a work study program.
It would enable me to become active with the research opportunities, to engage in internships that the University of Iowa offers, and to stay focused on the Neuroscience course all while having the opportunity to play the great sport of field hockey.
Finding the balance will allow me to achieve both my academic and athletic goals while being a HAWK at the UNIVERISTY of IOWA.
This post is an unedited piece written by Anyia Woods. She participated in the 2025 Dr. Judith Benscoter Female Athlete Scholarship contest.