That beautiful sport which requires athleticism, coordination, and passion. It's one of the most up and coming sports and has slowly made it's way from the east coast to the west coast. Kids of all ages are playing now. When you're young, it's so innocent and fun. They hand you a stick and teach you how to throw and catch. They take you to the older kids' games and you "ooh" and "ahh" and hope to be as good as them one day. You're not allowed to check when you're young, the coaches tell you good job (even after you mess up), and it's all fun and games.
...until you get older.
You get to high school and you think you're the big shot on campus because you're good at your sport, your high school team won the state championship, and you're going off to play in college.
Fast forward to your college career and you wake up every morning wondering what you're doing with your life.
Wake up. Eat breakfast. Go practice for four hours. Run until you're legs don't want to move. Get yelled at by your coach. Go to class for a couple hours. Sit in class starving because you don't have time to eat lunch. Go home. Eat dinner. Try to stay awake while you attempt to do your homework. Go to bed. Wake up. Repeat.
It's a constant cycle of sleep deprivation, stress, being sore, and being ridiculously hungry ALL the time. It's no longer that thing in your life that you do on the weekends for fun and to stay active. It's a full time job. You're here to play lacrosse (and do your schoolwork if you have time). Some days (if you're lucky), you'll even get a good night of sleep. But don't forget, only if you're lucky. You'll learn to appreciate those nights where you get 6 or 7 hours. Sleeping in? Oh, please. You won't even remember what that's like anymore. You don't get to sleep in. You have to wake up ready to go at your day with full force. Coffee will be your new best friend. Don't feel like working out today? Too bad. You have to do it anyways. You're stick work isn't on today? Get on the line. That's a sprint.
Sometimes, I forget I'm at school to actually go to school. This sport will take over your life.
But then you get to season. You're hard work starts to pay off and some days, it becomes that magical sport again. Just like it was growing up. That feeling of winning a game, scoring a goal, looking over and knowing that all those people are here to watch you play - to succeed. Those days, it's worth the stress, the tears, the mental and physical breakdowns. Each player is their own artist on the field with their own crazy thoughts screaming in their head.
Hey Katy.
ReplyDeleteI thought you ended this post very well. I especially like how well-written your last sentence is. It sums up the juxtaposition of the whole post between going crazy and that stress paying off. I definitely understand where you're coming from. I started out a piano major but the payoff was not enough for me and I ended up switching. It felt the same way - endless practice and forgetting you're actually at college for school (forget your sanity though).
I would say it might be effective to tie in even more specific imagery. Or talk about specific instances so the reader sees a very individual time you felt a certain way so that they can put themselves in your shoes more.
I think you've chosen a good topic with lots of different aspects to discuss.
-Becky
Hi Katy!
ReplyDeleteI really liked the writing style you took here (very reminiscent of Didion). I don't know a whole lot about lacrosse (other than my roommate played it and it's super intense) so I liked the way you were able to interweave information and a typical "day in the life" with your writing. There's definitely a buildup here that works really well and I wonder if you expanded it just a bit to maybe showcase how lacrosse has always been a part of your life (or not!) and a deeper look in the past might propel us forward to the present even more and have the reader appreciate just how hard, but satisfying, playing lacrosse is.
Great job!