The Transy Tribune goes beyond the game to tell the stories of Transylvania student-athletes in their own words. From the moments that shape them to the passions, people and experiences that define life beyond their sport, this is their perspective, their journey and their story — told by them.


Dear Kaelin,

For as long as you can remember, lacrosse has been a part of your life. Growing up in New York, you fell in love with the sport at a young age, and it quickly became so much more than just a game you played. Some of your best memories growing up involve lacrosse in one way or another. The practices, tournaments, traveling, workouts, wins, losses, friendships, and countless hours spent on a field have all shaped you into the person you are today. After all those years of hard work, you have finally made it to the moment you have been working toward for so long: playing college lacrosse. As you move into your freshman dorm room, you are going to think you have the next four years
figured out. You chose a university that you believe is the perfect fit, and you are finally getting the opportunity to play the sport you love at the college level. Once your room is unpacked and your parents drive away, though, it is going to hit you... this is it. You are officially on your own. There will be tears and nerves, but there will also be so much excitement about everything that
is ahead of you.

What I wish I could tell you at that moment is that your life is not going to go according to the plan you have created in your head. And that is okay.

You are going to learn that one of the hardest parts of growing up is accepting that you cannot control everything. You can work hard, make plans, and think you know exactly what you want, but sometimes life has something completely different in store for you. That does not mean you failed. Sometimes having the courage to change your plans is harder than sticking with something simply because it was what you originally wanted.

One of the biggest things I want you to remember throughout college is to stay true to yourself. It is so easy to get caught up in trying to become someone new when you first get to college. You are surrounded by people who don't know who you were in high school, and it can feel like an opportunity to completely reinvent yourself. There is nothing wrong with growing and
changing, but don't lose yourself in the process. It is okay if you don't like everything your friends like. It is okay to say no. It is okay to stand up for yourself. It is okay if your decisions don't make sense to everyone around you. Most importantly, it is okay to make your own way. At the same time, don't be afraid to step outside of your comfort zone. Say yes to something you
normally would have said no to. Join an organization. Go to an event where you don't know everyone. Introduce yourself to someone new. College is one of the few times in your life when
you will be surrounded by so many different people and opportunities. Take advantage of that. You don't have to become a different person, but allow yourself to discover new parts of who you are.
 
Your freshman year is going to challenge you more than you expect. You are going to break your foot, and suddenly the sport that has always been there for you won't be there in the same way. You have spent years working toward becoming a college lacrosse player, and now you won't be able to play. It is going to be frustrating and difficult because lacrosse has always been such a huge part of your identity. Lacrosse has also always been something that connects you to Dad. Having a dad who coaches lacrosse at the University of Louisville means you have grown up with the sport constantly around you. But he is so much more than a lacrosse coach to you. He has been one of your biggest supporters your entire life. He has seen the practices, long drives, tournaments, good games, bad games, injuries, successes, and everything in between. When things get difficult freshman year, he will continue to be one of the people you can always turn to. Getting hurt is going to force you to slow down. Without lacrosse taking up so much of your time and attention, you are going to start looking at everything else around you. Eventually, you will realize something that is difficult to admit: you aren't happy.

You came into freshman year thinking you had found the perfect school. You pictured yourself spending four years there, playing lacrosse and building your life. Admitting that it doesn't feel
right is going to be difficult because it will feel like you are walking away from something you worked so hard to achieve. But your journey is your own. Other people will always have opinions about what you should do because they don't have to be the ones living with your decisions. Listen to the people who genuinely love and care about you, but remember that you also have to learn how to trust yourself.

By the end of freshman year, you are going to realize that you need a fresh start. You are going to decide to transfer to Transylvania University. Starting over after an entire year of college is scary. You are going to leave behind what is familiar and walk onto a new campus where you have to meet new people, find new teammates, get to know new professors, and figure out where you belong all over again. But you are going to learn something important from that experience which is that starting over does not mean starting from nothing. You are bringing everything freshman year taught you with you. Coming to Transy will become one of the best decisions you have made. It will feel like coming home. You will find teammates and coaches who make an impact on you, friends who become an important part of your life, professors who care about you, and a campus community that makes you feel like you belong.
 
Now, as a junior, I think I appreciate Transy even more because of the experience I had before coming here. If everything had gone perfectly freshman year, I might never have known what it
felt like to need a fresh start. I might not appreciate the people and opportunities around me as much as I do now. Looking back, I am thankful that I was strong enough to make the decision to transfer, even though it wasn't part of the original plan. Freshman-year you might think changing schools means something went wrong. Junior-year me understands that changing direction can sometimes be the best decision you can make for yourself.

And through all of these changes, lacrosse will still be there.

Your relationship with the sport will change, though. Right now, you probably think that loving lacrosse means playing it. You have spent so much of your life measuring your relationship with
the sport through practices, games, statistics, wins, losses, and how you perform on the field. As you get older, you are going to realize that lacrosse means much more to you than how you
play. One of the coolest things you will get to experience is coaching younger girls. You will get to stand on the other side of the field and watch them fall in love with the same sport you have
loved for most of your life. Those girls will motivate you more than they probably realize. You will watch them learn something new and see how excited they are when they finally get it.
You will watch them make mistakes, get frustrated, and try again. You will see their confidence grow. Sometimes you will look at them and see a younger version of yourself.
They will remind you why you fell in love with the game in the first place. Coaching will also make you appreciate Dad in a new way. After spending your entire life with
him as your supporter and having lacrosse as something the two of you share, you will start to understand what it feels like to be the person encouraging someone else from the sideline. You will realize how rewarding it can be to help someone else become more confident and successful. You will understand that being a teammate is about so much more than playing the same sport. It is about encouraging them when they are frustrated, believing in them when they don't believe in themselves, and helping them grow.

Lacrosse has taught you so many lessons that have nothing to do with the actual game. It has taught you discipline, teamwork, perseverance, and how to keep working when something is
difficult. It has taught you how to win and how to lose. It has given you friendships, memories, and a connection with your dad that you will always have. But one of the biggest lessons you are going to learn is that you are more than a lacrosse player.

When you break your foot freshman year, you are going to struggle with that idea. So much of your identity has always been connected to being an athlete. Getting hurt will make you question who you are when you can't do the thing you have always done. Stop worrying so much about what everyone else thinks. Not everyone is going to understand every decision you make, and that is okay. The people who truly love you will support you even when your path looks different from what they expected.

Don't compare your college experience to everyone else's either. Some people will seem like they immediately found their perfect school, perfect friend group, and perfect path. That doesn't
mean you are behind because your journey looks different. You needed a different path to get where you are.

And don't rush through college. You are going to spend so much time thinking about what is next that sometimes you will forget to appreciate what is happening right now. Enjoy the little
things. Spend time with your friends. Appreciate your teammates. Call Mom. Talk to Dad about lacrosse. Work hard to get better. Take pictures. Go to things. Make memories.

Now, as a junior, I still don't have everything figured out. There are still decisions I will have to make and things I don't know about my future. I can't tell freshman-year you exactly where we
will end up, and I think that is actually a good thing. What I can tell you is that you are going to be okay when the plan changes.

You will get hurt.

You will have a difficult freshman year.

You will question whether you are in the right place.

You will make the decision to transfer.

You will start over.

And somewhere in all of that, you will grow into a stronger version of yourself.

You will find Transy, a place you now love to call home. You will meet people you couldn't even imagine knowing right now. You will continue loving lacrosse and working hard to be better each
day. If I could go back to that freshman dorm room and tell you one thing, I wouldn't tell you exactly what is going to happen.
 
I would just tell you to trust yourself.

Trust yourself when something doesn't feel right. Trust yourself when you know you need a change. Don't be afraid of starting over. Don't stay somewhere simply because leaving is scary.
Stay true to who you are, but give yourself permission to grow. Most of all, don't look at a change in plans as a failure.

Freshman-year Kaelin thinks she knows exactly where the next four years are going to take her.
 
Junior-year Kaelin is really thankful she was wrong.

Love,

Kaelin

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