Posted: Mar 08, 2018

My Teammates

They were my very first friends on campus...

The women I go to battle with...

My people...

My teammates.

I cannot articulate enough how vital my team has been in my college experience thus far. Sitting here writing this reflection, freshly bumped and bruised after continuously wiping out on the slopes of Mammoth with my teammates, it only seems fitting that I shed a light on how much these women have impacted me and how grateful I am for all of their presences in my life.

Every single one of these women, both past and present, are absolutely incredible. They are the kindest, most driven, and caring people you could ever imagine. Incredibly unique in every single aspect: Maddie went to France over the summer to study art; Jacey spent her summer developing rockets; Emily completed the Pacific Crest Trail; multiple are pursuing careers in the medical field; others preparing to take on the business, government, economic fields by storm. All joined together by our drive for life and our love for soccer.

On the pitch, we all have one goal, to play as hard for each other as possible and to win as a team. And honestly that’s pretty amazing. I know without a doubt that if I went to any of my teammates with a problem or concern, that I would be filled with support, and vice versa. It is one thing to want to play soccer together, but to have such a deep connection with your teammates off the field, and to want to play for them, is unparalleled.

It is crazy to think that I could have ended up at any number of academic institutions, playing on different teams, or maybe not even playing soccer at all. As is the same for many of my teammates, especially those that have transferred from other universities like Catherine from Davidson or Allie from Boston College. We have all come together to make up the CMS women’s soccer team. The fact that we come from the three different colleges that comprise CMS and all get along so well with such different personalities, is awesome.

From being on this team, I have been able to meet girls from around the country I may have otherwise never crossed paths with, like Megan from Massachusetts or Katrina from Tennessee, as well as girls from the other schools like Wren from Scripps or Kira from Harvey Mudd, or even the girls that go to CMC with me but are studying different majors than I am like Sarah who is studying International Relations and Economics or Rhiann who is majoring in Computer Science. My college experience could have been so different had these amazing people not graced my life.

I will be forever grateful for the CMS athletic program for bringing these amazing women into my life, and am continually reminded how different my college experience could have been without them as we go on team trips, setup impromptu kick arounds, and continue to keep in touch with graduated teammates. I know, without a doubt, that I will reflect on my college years with extremely fond memories in very large part due to soccer and the girls I was able to experience life with because of it. So, thank you to Athenas both past and present. I hope that this cohesive, welcoming atmosphere is the legacy we leave behind to future teams.

Once an Athena, always an Athena.

'Sco 'Nas!