The 2022 Senior Perspectives is the 18th 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.
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Hometown: Lynnfield, Mass.
Sport: Men's Lacrosse
Concentration: Economics
House: Pforzheimer
For a large portion of my first two years at Harvard, I was not certain being a part of the team was truly possible. My first-year Fall, I had tried out for the team without success, and instead spent that year serving as the student manager, helping set up drills and filming practices. Each time, I watched a team I had been cut from go out and do what I so desperately yearned to do; I would look down from the top of Harvard Stadium, from the press box, down toward my classmates, and think how I wanted to be just like them, how I wanted to be out there with them. I basically wanted to be them.
And that was what I worked toward throughout that first year, continuing to keep a stick in my hand and trying to learn as much as I could from the coaching staff. During this same time, members of the team and members of my class welcomed me with open arms. They made me feel a part of the team even when I was not, and I will always appreciate that. This support particularly comforted me when the coaching staff from that season was dismissed and the uncertainty of a new coaching staff as well as a new situation arose. I spent that summer training with some of these teammates who consistently encouraged me. Then, once the fall came back around the outcome again seemed uncertain. The tryouts took place that September and in December I was told no decision had been made and if I wanted, I could try out again in the spring.
After hearing that, I told my mother I was done. My chances of making the team seemed once again doubtful and my hopes appeared ready to be dashed once more. I had not been playing all Fall like the rest of the team and time continued to pass since those Summer workouts. I simply thought I had given it everything I had, and maybe it was time to move on. Fortunately for me, my family convinced me to give it one last try with the worst possible outcome at that point being two free weeks of lacrosse. However, this time was different; this time somehow it did work out. The day I heard I would be a part of the team, the day Coach Byrne said the words, "Welcome to the team." will forever be etched in my mind and stand out as one of the best days of my life.
In the end, my time with Harvard Lacrosse has brought me so much joy. The opportunity to be a part of this team, live out a childhood dream, and know and befriend many of the most amazing people, makes me feel blessed, fills me with pride and genuinely brings a smile to my face. It did not matter even on the days where nothing seemed to go right, or practice reps were hard to come by, because getting even one rep, just being out there on the field, was better than nothing at all. Standing on that field, now accepted and recognized as a part of this team with the people I had been watching and wanting to be like, meant the world to me.
Playing for this program has been such an incredible honor, and I will miss it dearly. Thank you to Coach Byrne and the rest of the coaching staff for giving me the opportunity to be a part of the team. Coach Corrigan, thank you for enabling the scout team offense to be such an enjoyable place to play, and for still believing in me, allowing me to go out and try and make plays, when things did not go my way. From the upperclassmen and my classmates that were already on the team when I first stepped foot on campus to the underclassmen I have truly loved getting to know, I have been welcomed into a community in which I have felt consistently showered with love and support. My time with Harvard Lacrosse has been magical. I will forever be grateful for all the memories, relationships, and lessons gained through being a member of Harvard Lacrosse. To my family for pushing me and supporting me in pursuing this, Thank You. It was everything I hoped for and more – a dream once dashed to a dream lived.
