When I first decided to come to EMU, playing field hockey was not something I had even thought about. I wanted to focus on my school work and give my body a break from playing a sport. As the first week of school approached, my sister, who was a junior at the time, convinced me to at least try it out. I decided to try and suffered through one of the worst weeks of my life, a preseason without being in shape. At the end of the week I was tired and sore, but I knew that I had made the right choice.

Playing field hockey these past four years has not been easy. I have had three different coaches in my four years of playing here, the largest roster that I have been a part of has been 18, our average number of fans per game is in the single digits, and we have not made it into the ODAC tournament since my freshman year. All of these different things have not made playing a collegiate sport easy.

I will admit that there have been times when it would have been easier to walk away from field hockey and just focus on school. It would have been easy to walk off the field after a hard day of conditioning and not walk back on the next day. It would have been easy to hit snooze when my alarm went off at five in the morning because we had practice at 6 a.m. These past few years I decided that I would not take the easy way out, I would work hard and continue to be a part of a collegiate team while I have the chance.

With only ten games left of my field hockey college career, I have found myself reflecting on how much this sport has had an impact on my life. I know that sounds cheesy, but it is true.

Being part of a team in college has allowed me to meet people who I may have never interacted with during my four years here. I have learned how to work with those who have very different personalites than me and how to take direction from a coach I clash with. My time on this team has helped me grow as a person, and I will never forget the experiences that I have had as a member of this team.