My name is Madison Davidson and I am a senior at Kennard-Dale High School. I come from a very small, rural town that values volunteer work and a strong sense of community. Ever since I was in elementary school, my parents preached the importance of volunteer work and giving back to those in need. My most long-term volunteering job has been at the Stewartstown United Methodist Church in its food pantry program. When I joined in 6th grade, it was a small organization where we would fill backpacks with food every week to give to the kids in need at the elementary school. This was my first act of service that really opened my eyes to the problems that children in my own school district face. My family has been fortunate enough that we haven’t faced any serious financial struggles, so the realization that there were students in my classes who couldn't afford meals deeply saddened me. I continued almost every week to fill backpacks full of food. As the months went by, our small backpack program soon began to blossom. We began receiving so many donations of food that they couldn’t even fit in the room where we kept everything. Years later, what once started as a small program is now a full food pantry that is held every Saturday. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, I wasn’t able to volunteer for a couple of years, so when I returned last year to the food pantry, I was blown away by the progress that had been made. Anybody in the community who was in need was welcome to come shop at the food pantry. This was my first long-term community service project that I was a part of, and it was also what inspired me to do other acts of service in the area and become involved in my high school. Today, I am a part of the National Art Honors Society and the National Honors Society. As President of the National Art Honors Society, I help organize the Art Show which is a free event where members of the community can come view the art of students in the South Eastern School District, as well as do fun activities. We have also raised money for various organizations, such as animal shelters, our school’s club called “Mini-thon” which raises money for kids with cancer, and “Dollars for Scholars” which is a group that gives scholarships to students in our area. As an active member of the National Honors Society, I have participated in service projects such as making blankets for kids at York Hospital, canned food drives, and clothing drives. One of my favorite acts of community service that I do every summer is volunteering at our local field hockey camp. It is so rewarding to bring a smile to kids' faces and lead fun games to help them understand the fundamentals of field hockey. I was also a volunteer coach for our girl's lacrosse youth rec team; it was great to take my love of sports and use it to better my community. While I enjoy all of my community service projects, the food pantry will always be special to me. It inspired me to continue acts of service throughout high school, and it is a valued organization in our community. I hope to continue to do other community service projects in college and beyond!

In honor of Sean Flynn’s love of sports, I decided that I would share one of the funniest stories from my years of playing lacrosse. Last year (my junior season) was the first season with a new coach for my high school team who happened to also be my club coach. He is notorious for being very strict and intense, so we have a lot of respect for him. Due to his intensity, he decided to implement running tests at the beginning of our season which we were all really nervous about. The running tests consisted of a 100-meter sprint and a timed mile run. His standards for the mile times were extremely difficult to achieve, nonetheless, my best friend and I decided that we were going to practice so that we could meet his times. Every week beginning in January, my friend and I went to our high school track to practice for the running tests. We pushed ourselves so hard in order to perform the 6.30-mile time that my coaches wanted us to get. I myself am not the fastest long-distance runner and am much better at sprints, so I pushed myself beyond my limits every time I went to the track. When preseason came around the first week of March, my friend and I felt super prepared. We hadn’t exactly made the 6.30-mile time, but we were close and knew that the adrenaline during the test would make us faster. My heart was beating out of my chest as we stepped up to the line to begin the mile; my coach blew the whistle and off we went! My friend and I decided to stick together since we were about the same speed, but she was a little better at long distances than me so she was just a few steps in front of me. We also both wanted the inside obviously, anything to shorten the distance. Lap one was successful, I’m just a few steps behind my friend so I knew I was keeping a good pace. My coaches were yelling out the times at different points around the track, so it sounded like I was actually going to make the mile time. I’m feeling pretty good! Lap 2 was where things went very wrong. As I was rounding the first curve of the track, my ponytail swishing from side to side and the cold wind blowing in my face, I suddenly felt a drip hit my arm. Was it raining? The sky was clear, so it couldn't be that. That's when my friend in front of me screamed: “Did I pee my pants!?” The answer is yes, she did pee her pants. I looked up to see her shorts completely soaked from pee and DRIPS WERE HITTING MY ARMS. Naturally, I started screaming. Due to the screaming, laughing, and being out of breath, I started to have an asthma attack, so I ran over to my bag to take my inhaler. My friend came with me to make sure I was okay; I was fine, I just couldn’t stop laughing. I made her run the rest of the mile behind me so I didn’t get sprayed with pee. We finished the mile and our times didn’t even come close to our goal. She apologized profusely as we ran to the bathroom together to ensure another accident didn’t occur during the 100-meter sprints. Even our coach cracked a smile when he saw my embarrassed friend come back in a pair of my extra shorts. Lesson learned; always pee before you run!

Lacrosse has consumed my life for the past twelve years. The sport has raised me; we have grown together in many ways over those years. I was six when I held the first lacrosse stick that my dad bought me. It was a full-sized stick and far too big for a Kindergartener to use, but at the time we didn’t realize that shafts could be cut down. Ever since I stepped on the field the first day, I knew this was my sport. “Commitment” was one of the most frequently used words by my club coaches. Practices were mandatory, and playing time would be negatively affected if we missed practices. This led me to make practice my number one priority. Not only did I want to be there to better myself, but I had a commitment to the team. If I was absent from practice, I missed out on drills and conditioning and a chance to build team chemistry. I hate letting people down; I don’t think anybody likes letting people down. This was even more motivation to strengthen my commitment to my team, I knew that my coaches would be disappointed in me, and I would be disappointed in myself. I carry this quality of commitment with me in every aspect of my life. As a member of various clubs and president of the National Art Honors Society, I have committed myself to bettering my school as well as motivating the people around me. “Teamwork” is the glue for the team. Your team can consist of twelve D1 commits, but without any chemistry, you won’t be successful. As captain of my lacrosse team, I made it my priority for my team to not only work together as teammates but treat each other like family. I organized countless team bonding exercises as well as spaghetti dinners at my house before big games. This gave us a chance to get to know each other off the field, and overall strengthened our team. We are more than just players to each other, these girls are my best friends. Our teamwork took us to districts during my sophomore year of high school and motivated us to practice every day. “Discipline” is something that I feel can not always be coached in a player. Self-discipline is one of the strongest qualities for a person to have. Lacrosse taught me self-discipline, as well as in school and in my job as a server at Cracker Barrel. It is easy to sit out of conditioning and say you don’t feel well, but it takes self-discipline to finish the sprints and make yourself stronger. When I worked as a waitress, I could have easily slacked off and given a half-hearted effort, but I made myself work to the best of my abilities in order to lessen the stress of my coworkers, as well as satisfy the customers. Commitment, teamwork, and discipline are three qualities that I embody on the lacrosse field, field hockey field, at school, at work, and every other part of my life. I want to succeed in everything I do and I value these character traits that I exemplify. I know that the lessons that lacrosse has taught me in my twelve years of playing will have long-lasting effects on all my future endeavors.

Throughout my life, I have been a member of multiple sports teams and have had an array of coaching staff. While they have had impacts on different aspects of my life, it is my club lacrosse coach who truly built my strength and resilience. When I first joined my club lacrosse team the “York Invaders” in 7th grade, I was extremely intimidated by the talent that surrounded me. I had gone from being the star on my rec team to being deemed as “mediocre” on my new club team. This did not settle well, as I have always been extremely competitive in everything I do, especially sports and school. I remember coming home from practice every day completely deflated after being criticized by the coaches. There was one coach--Coach Ray-- that was particularly tough on me; but at the end of my first season, he pulled me aside and told me the potential he saw in me. I was fast, aggressive, and I had the heart, but I had to improve my skill. That was enough for me to realize that instead of feeling sorry for myself, I needed to take his advice and make myself better. After my first season, I began practicing my stick work almost every day. Not only did I focus on my skills, but I started lifting in the weight room as well as conditioning. Every rep, every fail, every time I felt like quitting, Coach Ray’s words rang in the back of my head. After practicing for a few months and seeing my improvement, I started to see the potential in myself that my coach was talking about. When my next club season came around, I couldn’t wait for the coaches to see the work that I had put in over the off-season. I easily kept up with my teammates and my stick work improved tremendously. Instead of constant criticism, my coaches were coming up to me and telling me how impressed they were with my performance. While all the coaches' words meant the world to me, it was Coach Ray who I hoped would notice the most. I remember he came up to me and expressed how proud he was of me, and that he knew I would come back stronger. If it weren’t for Coach Ray, I’m not sure if I would have even continued with club lacrosse. Here I am, 5 years later on a team that only lost one game last summer and went undefeated in almost all of our tournaments. In David G. Sutton’s description, it was emphasized that he exhibits a fighting spirit and supportive nature. I believe that it was Coach Ray who helped bring out my fighting spirit in order to better myself both on and off the field. I still exemplify a fighting spirit every single day as I study hard to achieve the best grades I possibly can, as well as working hard at every practice and game. I have also learned from him how to positively support my teammates through triumphs, as well as hardship. As a student-athlete playing both lacrosse and field hockey, I can confidently say that Coach Ray’s words have stuck with me through all these years and have carried out into every aspect of my life, even beyond sports.