Being on a college sports team is hard. It's time consuming, exhausting (both mentally and physically), demanding and stressful. Being on a college sports team is a huge commitment, and sometimes it feels like the reward isn't enough. Your body aches all the time, your homework screams your name even after a two hour practice and all you want to do is sleep and your physical appearance in public becomes less and less of a priority. Sometimes it seems your coach is never going to stop pushing you, your feet are never going to stop moving, and you're never going to have the satisfaction of closing your eye lids ever again. Being a college athlete is hard, but if there is one thing that makes it completely worth it, its your teammates. So here's to the girls who make waking up at 530 AM, running miles upon miles, and losing hard games all completely worth every second.

Teammates,

It's crazy to think that we all came from different worlds at one point. Different states, different families, even different teams. It's fun that we all have our own stories of winning high school state championships or the terrifying coaches we've had in the past. But my favorite part about us, is the fact that we all had something that drew us to this city, this school and this team. At some point we were in the process of looking at schools that offered other pros and cons, but we still chose this one to come to. From day one we have been a family. We've pushed each other to our limits, comforted each other when life outside of our sport got hard, laughed with one another, and celebrated wins we worked hard for together.

It's crazy to think that in 50 years, we will still look back to these four years, and wonder how we ever got so lucky to play on such a fun, successful and motivating team with amazing, talented teammates we called sisters. We will look back and have no memories of the sprints we had to run or the weights we had to lift, but we will remember the championship titles that we earned together and the happy memories that came along with it.

So thank you for being the constant reminder that I love the sport I play, even on my worst days, and I love the people I play it with even more. You guys are my rocks, my hardest critics, and my biggest fans.

Much Love,

-M