Throughout my entire life, sports have always had a large impact on me. For the majority of it, swimming and basketball were my two main sports. They took up most of my time and I was joining every team to improve. When I got into eighth grade I took up field hockey just for fun. I played for the high school team and began to love the sport more and more. Eventually field hockey and basketball started to become my two main sports.
During my senior year of high school, my team ended the season with the best record in school history. We made it to semi-finals in the playoffs where the Cabrini field hockey coach, Jackie Neary, first saw me play. My mom told me she had talked to her and she was interested in having me coming to Cabrini. I had heard from people from my hometown that Cabrini was a suitcase school and everyone always went home on the weekends so I had never even considered applying.
I decided to meet with the coach anyway and it turned out to be one of the best choices I’ve ever made. Between Jackie’s enthusiastic attitude, the communication department and the gorgeous scenery that I would be walking through every day, there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that Cabrini was the right choice for me.
As the summer flew by and preseason got closer, I began to get even more anxious about going to the place I’d spend the next four years. I was already at an advantage from all the other freshmen that didn’t play a sport because I was there a week earlier and had already met a big group of people.
The first three years flew by and the field hockey team grew to be not only a group of girls I played a sport with, but they became my second family. We are all friends on and off the field and have shared laughs and memories that will last a lifetime. Two of the girls on the team in particular turned into my best friends at Cabrini and roommates.
Now during my senior year, I couldn’t imagine life without Cabrini field hockey. I hear from my friends that also play sports at their colleges complain how much of a hassle it is with the crazy practice schedules, it’s not fun for them anymore or they can’t stand their coach. I’ve never had a single complaint. All three of my coaches understand how important it is to be a student-athlete and give us the freedom to be able to be both.
By making the decision to come to Cabrini and play field hockey, I have met some of the greatest people that I know will stay in my life forever. Although Cabrini is a small school and people do go home on the weekends a lot, I couldn’t imagine myself going anywhere else or playing for any one besides Jackie Neary.
The happiness that field hockey has brought me, the memories I have made and the people I’ve shared them with wouldn’t have been the same at another school.
Everyone in my family always thought I would go to college for basketball or swimming, especially my dad. However, now that they see how field hockey has shaped me into to the person I am today, they are all happy that I chose the path I did. I don’t know what I’ll do once the final buzzer sounds in my last game, but I know that no matter what, Cabrini field hockey will always be a part of me and stay in my heart forever.
