Not having a true senior season meant that women’s soccer player Elle Uyeda needed to keep herself busy this semester. With this in mind, the Honolulu, Hawaii native opted to stay on the island to continue working and interning while attending classes virtually.

Uyeda has had her fair share of injuries, which led her to work at Fysiotherapie Hawaii, a physical therapy clinic. She has worked there since this past August, but has done virtually all of her own rehab at Fysiotherapie since she was 12 years old.

Just last year, Uyeda went down in a tough game against Cal Lutheran with a torn ACL. She was no stranger to knee injuries and took on a new leadership position from the sideline. Elected captain by her teammates in her junior season, she could no longer lead from on the field. Uyeda kept her head held high and led with strength and poise as she watched her team reach the SCIAC semifinals.

With Fysiotherapie holding such a special place in her heart for nearly a decade, Uyeda returned this past summer to start doing various tasks around the office. Uyeda runs their Instagram, which includes posting of and re-posting some of their professional athlete patients, including Caprice Dydasco of the National Women’s Soccer League as well as professional surfers Zeke Lau and Vaimiti Mahana. A “jack of all trades,” she also works at the front desk and assists with patient exercises and sanitization.

That may sound like a lot on top of her schoolwork, but Uyeda also holds an internship with the Keith Amemiya Mayoral Campaign. Amemiya is a finalist for the mayor of the city and county of Honolulu, with the results coming next week.

Uyeda is the communications intern for his campaign, organizing and planning content and creation for his personal and professional Instagram and TikTok accounts. She assists in making posts, videos, and strategized captions while also analyzing timing and sensitivity of the posts politically. Uyeda has helped his campaign tremendously, gaining roughly 160,000 views on TikTok and over 200,000 views on all of his social media platforms.

Uyeda has her plate full this semester with school, work and an internship, but she is tackling it head-on. She exemplifies what it means to be a student-athlete – leading through adversity on and off the field.