Western junior and midfielder Samuel Drummond is no stranger to change.

The Jamaican native moved to Delray Beach, Fla. his freshman year of high school. It was his first time outside of his home country.

“It was all very different,” Drummond said. “I had a heavy accent. I could understand what people were saying, but when I would talk they couldn’t understand me. It was embarrassing speaking in front of the class.”

Drummond transferred to Western to play soccer after playing two years at Jefferson College where he competed in nationals as a freshman and won nationals as a sophomore.

“I transferred to Western hoping to do the same thing,” Drummond said.

With the recent budget cut announcements and the removal of Western’s men’s soccer team, Drummond is facing some very unexpected changes in his life.

“Coming here to play soccer was the greatest thing,” he said. “In America there is more support for soccer; you can go to school for playing soccer. In Jamaica I grew up playing [soccer] with basketballs because we couldn’t afford soccer balls. We would play in the dirt without shoes,” Drummond said. “I’m just really bummed out, I’ve never been in school when I wasn’t playing soccer.”

With the men’s program being cut, Drummond now faces the decision of leaving Western. According to Drummond, there is a 40 percent chance that he will transfer, but due to the timing of the announcement he is afraid transferring may be almost impossible.

“Because I’m a junior, no school is going to want a player just to come and play for one year.”

In high school Drummond had few friends. He was the only Jamaican and most of the other kids had grown up going to school together.

At Western, Drummond had found a home full of friends on the men’s soccer team.

“Most of my friends are my teammates, so if anything happens to the team it’s pretty much abolishing most of my friends,” Drummond said. “This whole thing has crushed my career, the way I talk about my inspirations here at Western. I thought of it as a place that was secure.”

Drummond, however, says he isn’t going to have any hard feelings.

“It’s the same school, I just wish they could do more about the situation.”