Soccer | 10/21/2020 9:24:00 AM

Periodically Minnesota State University Moorhead Athletics will do a Q and A or a feature on a former Dragon student-athlete or coach. The latest are former Dragon women's soccer teammates Ashley (Germann) Dahl and Micah Palmer, each of whom own their own photography business.

Ashley (Germann) Dahl
Hometown/HS: Aurora, Colo./Grandview HS
Attended and played soccer at MSUM from 2013-16
Personal life: Married since Dec. 2016 to my husband, Andrew. We met at MSUM! We live in Maplewood, Minn., with our two cats.
Graduated from MSUM in 2016 with degree Bachelor of Science in Advertising and Public Relations.
Is a full-time photographer and owns her own business.

Micah Palmer
Hometown/HS: Pierre, S.D./Pierre
Years you played soccer at MSUM: 2013-2016
Personal life:  Living and loving life with my boyfriend. No children and No fur baby yet either.
Graduated from MSUM in 2017 with degree in Integrated Degree in Public Relations and Advertising. Currently attending St. Cloud State for master's degree in public administration
Is a Marketing and Communications Consultant for Maxwell Strategies in Pierre, S.D. Runs her business, Micah Jane Photography on the side.

1. What drew you to attend MSUM originally?
Dahl: "I knew that I wanted to play college soccer, but just didn't know where exactly. For some reason, Minnesota was high on my list. Both of my parents grew up in Minnesota so I was interested in potentially living there as well. I loved the size of the campus and
the student body population. MSUM also had a wide range of degrees when it came to media. One of the gals who played club soccer with me (Megan Benoy, who is now one of my best friends - thanks MSUM!) had just accepted an offer to play soccer at MSUM, so she
was able to give me a lot of insight when it came to the school as well as the soccer program."

Palmer: "My family. My mom and grandfather both played basketball at MSUM. When I toured MSUM with my mom and Coach Rollie Bulock, I knew it was where I was meant to be. I felt at home. I wanted to be a Dragon."

2. What was your experience of being a student-athlete at MSUM like?
Dahl: "I am forever thankful that I had the opportunity to be a student-athlete. It's definitely one of those things I think I took for granted and never really thought how awesome it was to have the opportunity I had until after college was over. The best part about
being part of a team is that you have a group of girls who are going through almost the same exact things you are going through. I was able to have instant friends the first day I showed up on campus my freshman and those friends remained all throughout my
time at MSUM."

Palmer: "My time being a student-athlete had trials and tribulations, but more importantly it had celebrations and so many amazing memories. Being a Dragon taught me what it means to have a deeper connection with your teammates that stretches far beyond the sport itself. It helped me grow into my own person, challenging myself each day to be a better person and teammate. My teammates are some of my closest friends still to this day."

3. What is you fondest memory or memories of your athletic career?
Dahl: "A lot of my fondest memories have nothing really to do with waking up at 5 a.m for morning lifting or even our practices or games, but the stuff that happened outside of wearing our cleats. I always loved how our team always did stuff as a team, not because we
had to, but because we wanted to. We would go to the basketball games together, or someone would have a bbq in the summer and we would always be together over there. It was like having a family away from home.

Palmer: "I could probably write a novel about this section, but I will keep it to one. Crookston game my senior year. "The Rock" game. To give a little context, our team had been in a huge transition period. We were a young team, but we also received a new coaching staff. This was one of the last games of the season and of my career. The game was very back and forth and, I believe, was a decently high scoring game for soccer. We fortunately ended on top when the buzzer went off. I just remember Caoch Chappell got the rock, hugged me and then presented  me with the rock to celebrate with my teammates. Us seniors were on top of the world holding that rock together. I believe there is a picture where we are all absolutely "cheesing" so hard because we were so insanely happy. We had been through a lot together and for some reason, this felt like we had won a conference title. Coach Kopietz - Thank you for all that you did for us seniors then and now. In the short amount of time that you were our coach, you taught us so much about how to be a leader on and off the field. You cared so much for us as humans and are still such a vital part of our everyday life. Go Dragons! "

4. Each of you have a photography business...what led you to start that? Can you talk about how that came about?
Dahl: "One of the requirements for our major was to take a photography class and it had always interested me, but I never thought to turn a hobby into a business until I had moved to Chicago.  I photographed my sister in law's wedding the summer of 2017 since I had a nicer camera and to save them some money, and I sort of fell in love with it.  The first job I had out of college was in the northern suburbs of Chicago and we lived downtown, so I would spend about 2.5-3 hours round trip in the car each day just sitting in traffic for my commute. I felt like I could be doing something during that time, so I started to listen to podcasts and some of the podcasts I would listen to were about wedding photography and owning a business. Then one thing led to another and I just decided to go for it. I started out photographing bloggers in the beginning, but it definitely helped having content from my sister in law's wedding to showcase in my portfolio when I began marketing myself as a wedding photographer. I am now wrapping up my third wedding season and love everything about what I do!"

Palmer: "I took a beginner's photography class to fulfill a requirement for my major. When I was growing up, I always knew I wanted to 'buy a nice camera' to take photos of my kids as they grew up. However, as cliche as it may sound after finishing my soccer career I had a fear I would never love something as much as that. I began to shoot for friends just for fun. What I appreciate about photography is it is something you can actively see yourself get better at and so I continued. My favorite part about being a photographer is getting to know people for who they are. My goal walking into each session is to make people feel comfortable and to capture them in the natural state of just being who they are."

5. How did attending MSUM impact you, professionally and/or personally?
Dahl: "MSUM taught me how to work on a team and work together to achieve a common goal. A lot of the classes I took, we had a lot of "group" lessons and activities. I remember one of my classes, we spent the entire year working together to create an ad campaign for Snapple Together. Not some of us, but all of us had to work together. Same goes for being a part of the soccer team. We were together a lot and had to learn to work together, even if we didn't want to. It's kind of like photographing a wedding day. Even though I do work for myself and don't get to work with others every single day, I do have to work with other wedding vendors on one of my couples' wedding days to give them the best wedding day experience ever. For example, the videographer might not have the same approach with a couple that I do, but that doesn't matter because the couple hired me and they hired them to give them both amazing wedding photos and an amazing wedding film. It's our job to work together and be a team that day for our clients, even if our businesses are separate.
"Personally, MSUM has taught me the importance of fostering relationships. Covid-19 doesn't make this part easier by any means; it's hard to see friends right now. But I am so fortunate for the friends I've been able to keep in touch with after college and even if we don't talk every day, I am fortunate that MSUM brought us together. MSUM is the perfectly sized campus. I loved having familiarity on campus, whether it was having the same group of students in a few of my classes, or knowing the names of the girls on the volleyball team. It was big, but it felt small enough where you could have those personal relationships. I am thankful for that."

Palmer: "It helped me appreciate community and connecting.  'Once a Dragon, Always a Dragon' is 100 percent a real thing. When I was attending MSUM and when I left, I knew the relationships were for a lifetime. I remember specifically a conversation I had with Webbie about graduating and my nerves of moving to Minneapolis, essentially starting adult life. I distinctly remember him telling me 'You are more than likely going to start at the bottom in your job, but you'll work your butt off. Anyone who values hard work will notice that and you'll move your way up. You're going to be just fine, kid.' He more than likely doesn't know this, but I've carried that conversation with me in every job interview or position I am in. Jon's humanistic approach to mentoring students at MSUM impacted me a lot and always helped me strive to be better in whatever I do."