UCI women's soccer is preparing for the rapidly-approaching season opener. The team appears to be boasting as many as eight freshman and sophomore starters. This youth movement will be led by their three senior players, one of whom is Jessica Miclat. Miclat is responsible for half of the goals and assists from returning players. We caught up with the Chino Hills-native to discuss travel, the future, and what really belongs pizza.

1.       You are majoring in public health policy and minoring in medical anthropology, what made you want to choose those fields?

Jess - "Funny story I actually have switched my major two times, I first came in as a chemistry major, then that lasted about a couple of weeks. Then, I switched to public health sciences, but still was too science-and-math-based for me. So I finally switched to public health policy, and got the best of both worlds. So it's just always been a love-hate relationship with science and math, and medical anthropology was a minor because it sounds pretty cool and I had completed a lot of anthropology classes through all my switching of majors."

2.       We have heard that you had three different career aspirations; join the CIA, become an American Ninja Warrior, or become a professional soccer play. At this point, which goal is the most obtainable and what appeals to you most about the CIA and American Ninja Warrior?

Jess - "In terms of which is most obtainable, I would have to go with the professional soccer player. I hope to play oversees after college. What appealed to me the most about the CIA was actually just watching a whole bunch of CIA /assassin movies and thought it was so cool to be a part of the CIA on go on missions and catch the bad guys so that's why I wanted to join the CIA. I even went to a CIA informational meeting on campus and reps from the CIA came to talk to us about how to join, but in terms of obtainable, probably not lol. American Ninja Warrior is one of my favorite shows and what appealed to me the most was just how savage and hardworking the people who train to be on the show are. They train for years to go through those obstacles and just watching them go through it made me want to someday maybe try. It would be pretty cool to be the first Female America ninja warrior."

3.       What places have you traveled to and what did you enjoy the most?
Jess - "I have traveled to the Philippines, Japan (Osaka), Dubai, and Jordan & Petra. What I enjoyed the most about these different places was the different cultures and the people's way of being. It was just so interesting and fascinating to me the differences in cultures compared to the US of course. But yeah I loved the city life, night life, the natives, and of course the different cultural foods!! It was also pretty cool to go to the lowest point on earth (the Dead Sea) and one of the Seven Wonders of the World (Petra)!"

4.       If money was no object, where would you travel to and what activity would you do?
Jess - "Fiji, and just island hop every day. Different beach paradise everyday doesn't sound too bad."

5.       What are some of the challenges of playing soccer at such a high level?
Jess - "Some challenges on the field are definitely the different pace and style of play but in terms of off the field some challenges are just managing everything like school and work and your social life all while maintaining good grades and prioritizing your family and soccer and everything else that comes along with it. Very tiring and difficult at times but worth it all in the end."

6.       You are a fan of a wide array of sports teams and players such as Steve Nash and Barcelona. If you could see any team or athlete from any time period, which would you choose and why?
Jess - "If I could see any team or athlete from any time period it would be Pelé from Brazil. He was such an amazing player and I think being in the same atmosphere and watching him play would have been an indescribable experience."

7.       You own a small stake in Kmart, Is investing something you are interested in and what companies do you think would be a good investment for the future?
Jess - "I definitely think investing is a great idea. The companies I would want to maybe invest in for the future would be like Twitter or maybe some production companies or some tech starters."

8.       You have made bold claims about being related to Manny Pacquiao and Fernando Torres, are you actually related to them and if so, how close are they to you on the family tree?
Jess - "I am not actually related to them, but there is a saying that "all Filipinos are related to each other somehow someway" and for why I think I'm related to Fernando Torres is a story about how my Grandma's maiden name is Torres and the Philippines did take over Spain at one point so somehow someway I feel like there is a connection."

9.       You are self-described pizza lover so we need to know once and for all, does pineapple belong on pizza?
Jess - "NOT EVEN A QUESTION OR SHOULD BE UP FOR DEBATE, IT 100% belongs on pizza."