Coming to a new school, I had no clue what to expect and I had a million and one questions: Would I have trouble making new friends? Would I get along with my teammates? Would I actually like this new school? It’s certainly been a crazy two semesters of ups and downs and unexpected twists, but it’s been a year I won’t forget.

I owe a huge thank you to the girls I call my teammates. From day one, they made sure I was included, invited me to dinner, added me on social media and included me in group conversations. They asked me questions about myself and were genuinely interested in learning about me and why I chose to come to this school instead of others. These girls made it incredibly easy for me to feel welcome in a new and unfamiliar environment and made me want to stick around for another year.

We suffered together through countless, painful, sweaty workouts together; we laughed and were able to grow closer on our easier, lighter days at practice. We pushed each other to get better as the season went on, faced problems together as a team, and supported one another with personal problems and never-ending injuries. Without girls like these by my side, the problems I faced the past two semesters would have been a lot harder to conquer.

I think the bond you make with teammates is a special one. You find a group of people who all love the same thing you do. To be passionate about something is wonderful in itself, but to find a group of people who share your passion is extraordinary. Working with a group of people who all want to achieve the same goal is a great experience and I will be forever thankful for every team I get to be on whether it is an athletic team, a team at work, or a team for a simple review game in class. Every person you work with teaches you something, whether you realize it or not; and am I grateful for that.

As we close the door on the 2015–2016 school year, I’ll remember all the laughs I had with these girls. I’ll remember the first Phillies game we went to together where I knew no one and how just weeks later we were spending hours in the cafeteria together after practice before homework became too much to deal with. I wouldn’t want to stay in and watch "High School Musical" with any other group of girls and I don’t know if I could find another group who finds my ability to eat eight pieces of pizza in one sitting impressive rather than repulsive.

So thank you to my teammates for accepting my sense of humor, my weird quirks, and for becoming some of my best friends in just a short year. I can’t wait to see what next year has in store for us and hopefully the new additions to the team feel the same way as I did about joining a great group of girls.