I remember the first warm-up lap of cross country practice my freshman year. The team was huge. I was overwhelmed and nervous. But as I looked around all I saw were friendly faces. These faces would come to be great friends and helped me navigate through my freshman year. That fall season started the cycle of high school sports that I would come to love.

From that large team of thirty or so girls, I then began the winter basketball season where with ten girls, the team was small and intimate. Basketball would become a welcomed change every November as I was ready for a break from running. Every basketball team I was a part of while at East was different. I met some of my closest friends from the groups, people I would never have gotten close to without playing basketball. The relationships we built through tough practices, great wins, devastating losses, and plenty of dance routines taught by Wynter, outlasted the duration of the season. Every year, after five months in the gym and long shorts, I would get ready to move on to the next season of lacrosse.

While the first half of the spring season usually still felt like winter, it was always a warm welcome back into lacrosse from my teammates. Over the four years the team changed a lot, but meeting new people along the way made me want to continue to play the sport. This year with only four seniors I got to get close with more underclassmen, and had the opportunity to be there to give them advice. Especially since one of those underclassman was my younger sister, Blaise. I got to get closer to her not only as a sibling, but teammates.

Each year of high school I grew more accustomed to the constant cycle of sport seasons, and 12 seasons later I look back and realize I am going to miss the structure, memories, and relationships sports gave me as I move on to college.