By Rebecca Saffran
City Times

“Freeway Fliers”: part-time professors who pay their dues by commuting between two or three campuses while working to achieve a full-time appointment on one.

Andi Miliburn, City’s newly appointed Assistant Professor of Health & Exercise Science, no longer makes such trips to Miramar or Mesa while coaching women’s soccer at City.

Now she can relax-sort of.

Since recruiting players from the City cafeteria between freeway flights four years ago, Milburn now enjoys more time with her students and players-she also enjoys learning from them.

Long accustomed to players whose parents pay thousands for their kids to play soccer, Milburn found herself without enough of them at City. She learned of cultural issues keeping female students out of sports, and now meets with families to explain the opportunities available for their daughters in soccer.

Her commitment doesn’t stop there. Once she has students on the field, Milburn works hard to instill in them the skills and motivation to continue in college and succeed in life. She encourages involvement in community service so students can better see what she termed ‘the big picture’.

“Everything in my life is related to soccer,” said Milburn. As a teacher and role model, she uses soccer as a means to instill commitment, dedication, lasting relationships, positive self-image, and the ability to learn from failures.

“Believe it or not” she says, “it isn’t all about soccer.”