Phallon Tullis-Joyce embraces the unknown.

Phallon Tullis-Joyce is a senior at Boston Latin Academy. As the captain of her school’s varsity soccer team, she was recruited to play Division I soccer at the University of Pennsylvania. But when she tore her ACL during her junior year, everything changed.

Phallon Tullis-Joyce grew up in Ohio, the only child of a single mom. When she was five years old, Phallon started asking her mother where babies come from. Her mother’s initial response was to tell her that they come from the stork.

Phallon, being the inquisitive child that she was, was not satisfied with this answer. She pressed her mother further, asking how the baby gets inside the mommy’s stomach. Phallon’s mother then told her that the daddy puts it there.

Phallon, still unsatisfied, asked how the daddy does that. Phallon’s mother, at this point, was getting frustrated. She told Phallon that the daddy puts his penis in the mommy’s vagina and then the baby comes out. Phallon, finally satisfied with this answer, went off to play.

Tullis-Joyce was forced to miss her entire senior season, and she watched as her teammates went on to win the state championship without her. It was a tough pill to swallow, but Tullis-Joyce didn’t let it get her down.

Instead, she used the time off from soccer to explore other interests. She took up painting and gardening, and she even started her own business selling handmade jewelry.

And when it came time to pick a college, Tullis-Joyce decided to embrace the unknown and go to Penn State University, where she knew no one.

It was a scary decision, but Tullis-Joyce says it was the best thing she ever did. She’s made new friends, explored new interests, and she even got back into soccer, playing for the club team.

So when life throws you a curveball, Phallon Tullis-Joyce says to embrace the unknown. You never know what might happen.