Growing up, I tried every sport — you name it, I tried it. I started with peewee soccer, attempted horseback riding in third grade, played softball until I was around 11 years old and finally found out which sports I loved by seventh grade. There was basketball, lacrosse and most of all, field hockey. I was a three-sport athlete for the majority of my life.

I loved nothing more than putting on my uniform after school or for a tournament in all three of these sports. I never wore something with so much pride. I loved to compete. During every practice and every game, I put my heart and soul into those two-hour time periods when I could do what I loved most.

My athletic career came to an end after high school was over. That chapter ended but my passion for sports was still so deep and alive inside me. The competitor in me was not done.

I had found journalism during my senior year of high school, when I wrote stories for the school newspaper, covering a variety of topics. I specifically remember writing a story on the spring athletes at my school and that is when I fell in love. I loved interviewing athletes and getting to tell their stories, shining a light on who they were on and off the field.

This carried over when I arrived here at Roger Williams University. As a freshman, I found The Hawks’ Herald and joined the sports section immediately as a reporter. I started writing as quickly as I could.

The excited, nervous and eager feelings I felt when beginning to write about sports games or conduct interviews with student-athletes, coaches and members of the athletic department reminded me of the same feelings I would get as an athletic competitor. I realized the competitive spirit in me was still alive and well, just in a different way.

I realized this even more when I took on the role of sports editor after two years as a reporter. I became one of the 12 captains on a new team, The Hawks’ Herald. I got my new uniform, my Hawks’ Herald windbreaker, and I was on my way. From that moment on, I was a leader and that was something I always strived to do as an athlete growing up.

During every game I competed in growing up, I would play my heart out from start to finish. I found myself doing the same for every story I wrote, conducting as many interviews as were needed, chasing the hard stories, running from practice to game to get photos of different athletes and doing all these tasks before the new game was over, in order to make my deadline. That was the ultimate competition for me.

With my time as sports editor coming to an end and graduation right around the corner, I reflect back with the heaviest and most grateful heart and see someone who has grown more confident and resilient than she ever thought she could be.

I know now more than ever that I am prepared to succeed in the game of life, which is the biggest competition of them all.

Thank you to every student-athlete, athletic department member and coach, Athletic Director Kiki Jacobs and especially The Hawks’ Herald for giving me the opportunity to have my love for sports and competition grow larger than I could have ever imagined during these last four years. Thank you all for making me who I am today and who I will be in the future.