Achieving goals. If there was a theme to Framingham State’s women’ soccer head coach Kristina Kern’s life that would be it. Whether it was on the playing field in college, in the classroom or in her current career, she knew what she wanted to do and put every effort into achieving it.

Attending Framingham State was a simple decision for Kern. She saw the opportunity to get a first-class education while also being able to continue her athletic aspirations.

Playing three sports while in high school, it was no surprise that she wanted to continue that competitive lifestyle once in college. Only playing two years of basketball, she was on the Rams’ soccer and softball teams all four years and found great success in both.

As the starting goalkeeper, Kern compiled a 53-17-3 record while helping the Rams to three MASCAC Regular Season Championships, two conference tournament appearances and the program’s first three visits to the NCAA Tournament. The first trip to the NCAA Tournament is still close to Kern’s heart.

“Bringing the team to the first NCAA Tournament that Framingham State women’s soccer has been to is one of my favorite college memories,” Kern said. “That was the peak of success for our team and I was proud to be a part of that milestone.”

Individually, she holds eight Framingham State women’s soccer records, including most saves in a game (27) and career (504), best goals-against average for a season (0.41) and career (0.91) to name a few. For her efforts, she was named the 1998 MASCAC Women’s Soccer Rookie of the Year and earned multiple All-Conference honors.

Her success wasn’t limited to the pitch, however. She was a two-time All-Conference selection for softball and held six individual records, including most hits which has since been broken. Despite all the individual records, Kern knows she couldn’t have done it on her own.

“It was an honor for me to play at the collegiate level,” Kern said. “I never thought I would achieve any of the accolades I did, but it was due to my coaches and the players around me. Moving forward it helped me as a coach sharing my experience and letting them know there is a bigger picture. Having goals and helping them to achieve anything they want.”

Despite her degree field, Kern felt pulled to a different career path following college. During an internship with the New England Center for Children, she found a new love for teaching that would change her life forever.

“It is hard coming out of high school and knowing at 18 what you want to do with your life,” Kern said. “I didn’t have a lot of experience with special needs students, but I knew I had a love for people. I found my love for teaching when I realized how much I love people. Academics didn’t come easily to me and I share that with my team. Helping my students find ways to help them learn and be successful is what I strive to do.”

Finding a career she loved was easy, but soccer still was a huge part of her life. Kern served as the girls’ varsity soccer coach at Holliston High School in Holliston, Mass for eight years. During that time she led the Panthers to four league championships and several went on to compete at the NCAA level.

Despite finding success coaching at the high school level, there was something missing for Kern. A goal she had made for herself that she didn’t realize how close she was to achieving. In 2014, she got the call that her alma mater wanted her to be the next head coach.

“I always had the aspiration to coach at the collegiate level and for it to be with Framingham was exciting for me,” Kern said. “Coming back to Framingham and working with the same athletic department from when I was a student-athlete now as their co-worker was special. I had a connection with them as an athlete and they welcomed me back with open arms.”

Now in her fourth season at the helm, the Rams were 33-26-4 in her first three seasons. During her first season in 2014, she led the team to a 14-7-1 record which included winning an ECAC DIII New England Championship.

Kern is a firm believer that all of the steps along her path have helped her be a better coach. Taking inspiration from her time as a student-athlete, as a member of the Australian Gold Coast League after college and even some of her failures help her to better relate to the young women she coaches every day.

“We try to be a surrogate family for them,” Kern said. “Hold them accountable for the field, classroom and life in general. We are a family. They need to have an outlet while they are in college. Want to be an intricate part of the student-athletes lives. Managing stress and time are so much harder now than it was when I was in school. Remembering my time as a student-athlete I try to respect the difficulties of the challenges they are going through when they come to college.”

Looking back on her time as a student-athlete at Framingham State, you can hear in her voice how much it meant and how fresh the memories still are. If Kern could give students just a little piece of advice, this would be it.

“The best advice I can give is the best experience you will have is being a student-athlete in college,” Kern said. “It opens so many doors to your future. Be confident in yourself and hold yourself to a high standard. If you do that on the field, you will do that in every aspect of your life.”