Brogan Williams,a soon-to-be sophomore at Oklahoma State, practices her archery at her home Monday morning. Williams will be competing in the World University Games July 3-14 in Gwangju, South Korea.

Brogan Williams is not your normal college student.

Even though she has yet to begin her sophomore year at Oklahoma State University, the Stillwater, Oklahoma native is preparing the travel the world thanks to her skills with a bow and arrow.

Williams will compete against the world’s best after qualifying in compound archery for the World University Games in Gwangju, South Korea July 3-14. She earned the spot at a shoot in Los Angeles and will represent the United States collegiate team.

“I want to bring the home gold bad,” Williams said. “I’ve got to go shoot the best I can and be happy with that. It’s still a learning experience.”

This will be the second time Williams has competed outside the country. Last year she competed on the Junior Indoor World team in Nimes, France. Her squad placed second and set a new team record with 235 points.

At the same competition, Williams placed ninth individually. She admitted she was nervous in her first international competition but will be more relaxed in her next one.

“It’s not as different from international shoots as I thought it would be,” Williams said. “You feel like it’s big. It’s not. It’s just another national shoot.”

The World University Games are held every two years. The atmosphere is similar to the Olympics and even has an Olympic-style village for the athletes to live in.

Compound archery is currently not part of the Summer Olympics. But Williams and her family hope that will change by 2020.

Unlike traditional bows that are used in the Olympics, compound bows have a pulley system that reduces the draw weight as you pull past the break point. They also are typically equipped with sights and shot with a release aid.

Though Williams just finished her freshman year at Oklahoma State, she will be a little more seasoned than her competitors with six years of archery experience.

“The collegiate (competition) isn’t as big as the USA stuff, which I’ve been doing the past two years,” Williams said. “The USA (competition) is tougher because there are more people who have found archery themselves and really want to do it.”

Williams is studying psychology at OSU but her passion lies in archery. She won the national championship and was named a first team All-American last month at the national championships Newberry, Florida.

Williams has competed in several different archery associations, including the Archery Shooter’s Association, National Field Archery Association, Junior Olympic Archery Development and the Oklahoma State Archery Association.

In 2015, Williams won the USA Indoor Nationals at Texas A&M University, the JOAD Indoor Nationals and the Winter Sooner State Games.

To get prepared for the World University Games, Williams practices at her home in Stillwater. Every day, she shoots 75 to 100 arrows.

An important part of the preparation is choosing her starting bow. Right now there is competition between her black 2009 Hoyt Vantage Elite and the purple 2014 Hoyt Pro Comp.

“I shot Saturday and shot 36 on each and scored for them,” Williams said. “The purple bow is ahead by two points right now. I’m going to have to shoot 36 on each again and combine those scores for a 72-arrow score.”

Before, Williams heads to South Korea she will go to the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California, near San Diego, for the SoCal Showdown. It will last from Friday through Monday.

“It’s always a really cool experience to be out there,” Williams said. “You’ve got good weather out there usually. It’s nice and cool.”

Glover writes for The Stillwater (Ok.) News Press