My Experience As An Eagle

My Eagle Experience

I have no intention to give advice, preach or tell anyone how to go about their own experience. I think that would be presumptuous. I simply felt like writing about my own experience. I might share it if I feel like it may help, motivate or guide others, but truthfully, that is not up to me anyway. It is up to them.

Being a college athlete in America is a unique experience - very different than in any other country. Being an athlete at an institution like Boston College is a privilege…an opportunity of a lifetime. Unfortunately, what I see is that not everyone appreciates it the way they should; therefore undermining not only their own experience but possibly that of others sharing it with them or following their footsteps.

I played 4 years on the women’s tennis team, graduating in 2006. During this time, I got a world-class education – for free, met amazing friends – for a lifetime, played the sport I loved - or at the very least, respected, and felt like a “star”. Not the kind that gives autographs; but rather, a “lucky star”.

See, feeling confident while being grateful is very different than feeling entitled while being arrogant. I see too many high school athletes getting into colleges, making it on the team in whatever sport they play, and acting like celebrities. They walk around like they have already put something down on the table, like they own the place, like they are better than others. And that is one of the biggest mistake they can make.

I am all for being proud to be a student athlete, and using past achievements as a source of motivation and stepping stone for future success. But I don’t care how good you are or were in high school. I don’t care how many games, tournaments or matches you won in your career. I don’t care how many colleges fought for you. I don’t care if your plan is to go on tour and I don’t care if you make it there one day. If you cannot remain true to yourself, if you cannot feel gratitude towards the sport, the fans, the institution that has given you such an opportunity and most of all if you cannot respect your teammates and your coach, you failed. It is that simple.

An athlete isn’t an athlete just because she pushes her limits, challenges herself, trains and sweats, wins or loses. An athlete is an athlete when she knows how to win respectfully, how to lose and get back up gracefully, how to support her team, how to be part of a team, how to respect herself and others, and how to be grateful.

And this is what our team knew how to do. We didn’t achieve what we achieved because of our tennis skills. We succeeded because we were a team - including Coach. It didn’t matter who was the best, and it didn’t matter who wasn’t. Just like it didn’t matter whether we thought Coach was a good coach or not. What mattered was that we were all in the same boat - together.

We shared the same experience, showed up for the same practices, lived in the same dorms, traveled to the same trips, competed against the same teams and we all took responsibility for our part. Some of us were motivators, some of us took the role of the “mother hen”, some of us were fighters, some of us were supporters or cheerleaders, some of us were leaders, and some of us were followers. It didn’t matter. We all took or fell into a role, and gave it our 100%. And this is what made us winners in the sense that I want to be a winner. To me, winning isn’t just about winning a match or being no. 1, or no. 3 or number whatever on a team that I belong to no matter what. It is about a way of life that is so much bigger and so much more sustainable than any single win on the court.

So if I can take the liberty to give any advice to any student athlete is start thinking as “We” instead of “I and always, I mean ALWAYS, give your best effort. No one can ask you to give more than that, but no one, especially not you, should ever think to expect less of you than giving your best. Only you know how to do that, and only you know when you are really giving it. It is your basic obligation to stay true to yourself.

If you can master these things – both on and off the court, you are golden. You will not only be a great athlete, but also a great person, a great friend, a great role model or inspiration, and a great protagonist of your life. Who wouldn’t want that?