To the seniors saying goodbye to their collegiate sport,

As our last year of college comes to an end, a lot of hard goodbyes are in order. A lifestyle you have lived over the past four years will soon be changing: friends moving, saying goodbye to those life-changing professors, trading in classes for a full-time job, moving out of a beloved house or apartment, etc.

I'm an emotional kind of person. I'm having a hard time with the concept of my senior year of college coming to an end. But one of the hardest goodbyes I will have to endure is the goodbye to my collegiate sport.

In my collegiate career, I have dedicated more than half of my time to my sport. I have bled, shed sweat and tears for this very thing that has consumed me and molded me into the person I am today. And in those moments of weakness, I know we all have, I wished my season away, wished for the time to pass so I could finally be done and relax. Now, with nostalgia and sadness looming over me, I wish I could go back to my first year and do it all over again.

All the mentally and physically pushing moments, the sore bodies, the 6 a.m. practices, the cancelled plans and early bed times; they are worth those moments when you see how far you have come, how you've supported your team, and how much all that hard work has paid off. It's all worth it in the end, and we all know it. We all know that as much as we've despised our sports, we can't imagine life without them.

My team has become like a second family; a highly dysfunctional family that makes me want to pull out my hair, but a family nonetheless. Some of my fondest memories of college have been made with them; the times we came together to put in work, the bus rides full of laughs and snores, the dinners and movie nights and games... The list goes on and on.

For some athletes, it may a relief that their athletic career is over; for others, they may be pursuing something after (props to you), and then there are athletes like myself and many others: not ready to move forward in life, and wishing we had just one more meet, one more game, one more time to really give our all.

The one thing that I have to keep reminding myself is that the memories, the people, the love for our sport, they never really leave us. We will always have the photos, the memorabilia, the medals, and phone calls to make to past teammates to reminisce about our glory days. Life is changing for us; for the first time in my life I will no longer be a competitive athlete, and that's a scary thing to think about. But I think of all the mud runs and triathlons (eh, maybe) I'll start training for, for all the club teams and masters programs I'll join as I get older. I may be leaving my collegiate team and career behind, but I'll never not be an athlete.

So, to those leaving their collegiate athletic career behind, be grateful for the opportunity you've been given, and never forget all of the moments, blessings or tribulations, that you went through. Keep these years close to your heart and remember how far you've come. It may seem like the end, but it's just the beginning.