Lacrosse is a game of individuals coming together as a team and as a family to achieve success. Success in lacrosse, and life, is never simple, painless, or guaranteed. Success requires commitment, teamwork, and discipline both on and off the field. Playing lacrosse has taught me to embody these traits in several ways. Value as a teammate is one of the most important ideals I have learned. I consider my teammates as family. I respect everyone equally and try to make sure that my teammates know I appreciate them. For example, if one of my teammates gets injured, I always make sure to either text them or find them after practice or the game to ask them how they are doing. As a team, regardless of the outcome, we will often go out to eat after a game. It allows us to decompress from the intensity of competition, discuss how we are feeling about the game, or just joke around and have a good time hanging out. This strengthens the relationship and bond with my teammates, which translates to cohesiveness on the field. As someone who started playing lacrosse as an eight-year-old, I have great memories of all the high school athletes, summer camp coaches, and club coaches that played the game and shared their lacrosse knowledge with me. I decided to use my Senior Capstone project to teach lacrosse to younger kids. I achieved this by going to "after-school" programs at local elementary schools with lacrosse sticks and tennis balls. I taught some basic skills, shared things that I learned as a young player, made some new friends, and helped to grow the game of lacrosse. I felt successful in knowing that I was giving back to the sport that gave something to me. Lacrosse is not called the fastest game on two feet for no reason. It requires an athlete to be in peak physical shape. Conditioning myself through well-rounded training has transformed my physical self by leaps and bounds. Five to six days a week, both on and off-season, I lift weights to build strength. I play wall ball to stay competent and sharp with the ball in my stick. I alternate days with jumping rope and agility drills for cardio. I always seek to top my personal best. Teamwork, commitment, and discipline carry through to all aspects of life. My first club lacrosse coach always said, "early is on time, on time is late, and late is unacceptable", and because of that, I always show up to practice as early as possible. These words have always resonated with me, and have contributed, in some part, to my academic success as well. They remind me that time management is critical for success. I know these words will play a role in my college experience at Transylvania University and my future career in digital media. My experiences and lessons learned through lacrosse are ones that can never be taken away. I am grateful to have grown and evolved as a person through playing a sport that I love.