Lessons Learned as a College Athlete

As the Fall 2026 season wrapped up last weekend, I have had time to reflect on my time as a member of the women’s field hockey team and how that opportunity has shaped my past two years at Oberlin. As I say goodbye to an impactful, fiery senior class, I look back on those experiences with admiration and excitement for what lies ahead.

This season was our best season in over a decade, but what really stood out to me wasn’t the wins or losses. What mattered most to me was the pride I developed for my school and the support I felt from my community.

Throughout the college search process, I always knew that I wanted sports to be part of my college experience. However, I never truly appreciated how important that experience would be, not only for my athletic development but also for my personal growth.

What really stands out to me about college athletics is how much it connects you to your school community and gives you a unique sense of pride in what you do. As I stepped onto campus as a first-year, I immediately felt a strong sense of community and knew I had a whole group of people cheering me on. Being a member of the field hockey team helped me navigate the transition to college with ease and confidence, knowing I had a team behind me every step of the way.

What makes the Oberlin athletics community so special is the layers of support and the feeling that everyone in athletics cares about each team. After every game, someone will stop you either in the training room or on the way to Stevie, telling you congrats on the game. After our first win this season, many other athletes, coaches, and trainers stopped our team to congratulate us. What stood out to me was that it wasn’t just surface-level remarks; it was clear that people actually watched and paid attention to your games. This wasn’t something that I had in high school; the idea that other people were interested and excited about field hockey was a pleasant surprise.

Oberlin has allowed me to develop as a student-athlete fully. I've never had to put my academics on the back burner; if anything, being a student-athlete has allowed me to pursue my academics even more. There is something comforting about the whole team doing homework on long rides and helping each other study. It's inspiring to hear teammates talk about something interesting they learned in class that day during the warm-up jog. My teammates genuinely care to hear about my academic interests; I can talk about my economics coursework to my biology major teammate, and they listen with genuine curiosity. We celebrate each other's academic achievements with the same excitement as we do on the field.

Oberlin athletics is truly a community that wants the best for every athlete, both on the field and in the classroom. I have never experienced a community with so much support and drive to be better than we were the day before. As a collective, athletics is on the rise, with each team continuing to build and break records. It is so special to be part of a group of people committed to leaving their teams better than they found them. This has taught me to believe, fully buy into a program's goals, and hold myself to a high standard every day. It has given me confidence in myself, knowing I am truly in control of achieving my goals, regardless of what the outside noise may say.