The 2021 Senior Perspectives is the 16th in a series of annual collections. Senior captains and representatives of teams at Harvard have been invited to contribute viewpoints based on personal experience from both their senior seasons and full varsity careers at Harvard.
Natalie Sicher
Hometown: Hershey, Pa.
Concentration: Human Evolutionary Biology
House Affiliation: Winthrop
During my beginning years at Harvard, I would never have anticipated that I would graduate only having completed two full seasons of collegiate field hockey. An ACL tear disrupted the end of my junior season, and the COVID pandemic snatched away the possibility of returning to play as a senior. Many seniors have similarly lost seasons during the 2020-2021 school year.
Some have chosen to transfer to other schools to use their remaining eligibility while pursuing graduate programs. Others, including each of my fellow Class of 2021 teammates, chose to take leaves of absences during the pandemic in order to play at Harvard during a 5th year. Unable to do so due to post-graduate plans to apply to medical school, I am the only Harvard field hockey member graduating in the spring of 2021.
I did not realize that October 19, 2019, the day I tore my ACL, would be the date of the last field hockey game I would ever play for Harvard. The recovery process from ACL reconstruction surgery was a challenge of its own. Relearning how to walk, run, jump and cut were monstrous hurdles, physically and mentally, on the track toward returning to play for one more season.
The news about the cancelation of the fall athletics season of 2020 was met with a multitude of different emotions. Frustration that months of recovery would never reach the finish line, but also relief that my knee would remain safe from potential re-injury for the foreseeable future. Disappointment that my field hockey career was over, but also gratitude that I was able to experience the time that I had with Harvard field hockey. Knowing that I was on a different path than many of my classmates and that my athletics career was fully over, I was forced to reflect on the short amount of time that I did spend as a student-athlete at this institution.
On a surface level, the trials of my injury and lack of a true senior year seem to define my years as a student-athlete at Harvard. It is easy to assume that because of the past two years of hardships, I have missed out on the complete Harvard Athletics experience. With this, I completely disagree. Reflecting on my years as a member of Harvard field hockey has never made me think about the difficulties of my ACL recovery, nor the disappointment about not playing my senior year. My years on the team were defined by the Harvard field hockey family I have grown into, the life-long relationships I have cultivated and the unforgettable experiences I have shared with the people who I will call my best friends for the rest of my life. Alongside our bigger victories like winning the 2018 Ivy Championship and playing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, my favorite memories of Harvard field hockey are that of time spent with my teammates. Getting ready for Ivy games in the locker room, sharing meals on away trips, and catching up on the way to the field before practice were the meaningful moments that I will remember as I leave Harvard. My teammates were the people with whom I kept in daily contact during the beginning months of the pandemic. They will also undoubtedly be the friends on whom I lean after I graduate from Harvard, despite the physical distance that separates us all.
Looking back, I do not regret how my athletic career turned out. Although I would have loved to play my senior season, shortening my time as an athlete forced me to cherish the moments I did have that much more. I am incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to play the sport that has shaped my life with the people who I value the most, no matter how long the experience lasted.
