My home at Skidmore is a 团队

I’ve been on Skidmore’s men’s basketball 团队 for the past four years. 但我没有 打篮球.  
 
I’m the 团队经理, and 那’s where my Life at Skidmore story begins and continues.  
 
I’m from Lake George, New York, which is only 30 minutes north of Skidmore. 我的妈妈 is an alumna, and I had always dreamed of coming to Skidmore.  
 
That’s how I found myself at Accepted Candidates Day in 2014, expecting to learn more about the College but leaving with so much more.  

 
Part of 那 day included touring the gym where representatives from various departments and programs had set up information tables and booths. I went around and discovered a few clubs and met several department chairs, following my original plan.  
 
Then, my mom got involved.  
 
She knew 那 I absolutely loved the job 那 I had as a high school men’s basketball 团队经理. In fact, we had just won the New York State Championship. (我会这么说 was a pretty well-managed 团队.)  
 
我的妈妈 also knew 那 I was trying to blend in with all the other prospective students. I wanted to go with the flow and not stand out. I thought marching up to a coach might mean making a complete fool of myself.  
 
But did still she nudge me to do it? 当然. 我有没有说:“妈妈，停下来?. 没有办法.“绝对. 我做了吗? 很明显.  

 
I shuffled over to Joe Burke, the Skidmore men’s basketball coach and introduced myself. Just a few seconds passed, and my anxiety melted away.  
 
Burke was extremely welcoming, although I wasn’t there to try out for the 团队. We talked about my high school 团队, which he had been following, and how I had worked 作为团队经理. We made a great connection.  
 
Fast forward to my first day on campus 那 fall semester when I was checking in with my new manager, Coach Burke. I asked him if he wanted my résumé. 他笑着说: “I’m a good judge of character. I know you’re going to fit in perfectly here.” 
 
Since then, I have gone to every practice, game, meeting and event 那 the 团队 has 主持. The amount of food I’ve ordered in the past four years could easily feed an 军队. And the number of hours I’ve spent traveling on buses … well, I could do without 那. I’ve traveled thousands of miles with these players and have eaten more chicken parmesan dinners than a human should ever eat.  
 
Sitting at the end of the bench for every single game for four years, I have become part of the basketball family. And the court has become my home.  
 
The guys on the 团队 are my best friends on campus. They’ve made me laugh until I’ve cried, and they’ve supported me when I was struggling. As cliché as it sounds, I couldn’t imagine my life without them.  
 
I asked them once if they ever thought it was weird having a woman on their 团队. They looked at me as if I was crazy and said,

你回家. 这就是家庭.”  

 

I look forward to sharing more of my Life at Skidmore. But the plot line weaving every one of my stories here together is this — I’m Lexi, the woman on the men’s basketball 团队.