From the practice field to the press box

It was the fall of my junior year of college, and I could no longer flaunt my Duke lacrosse backpack around campus, my Duke Card would no longer swipe into the K Center and weirdest of all, I would no longer be defined as a varsity athlete. Ever since I was a little kid, I was passionate about sports and lived for athletic competition. I was a jock and the token tomboy who played soccer at recess with all the boys while the girls played patty-cake. I had been playing lacrosse for the majority of my life—since the first grade—so I had no idea what life would be like without it.

After my passion and fire for lacrosse had burnt out, I made the tough decision to step away from a game I had once loved and pursue my other interests and hobbies: including journalism and writing, pickup basketball, squash and golf, all of which had been put on the backburner for so long. It was a scary and very unfamiliar world without lacrosse, but one that has brought me to some of the happiest moments of my life and some of the most loyal, dependable friends I could have ever imagined.

It was a beautiful September day at Duke, and I was a junior with no affiliations on campus—being a collegiate lacrosse player had previously defined my life. So I decided to go to the annual activities fair on East Campus, an event primarily intended for freshmen to find themselves a group or club that they might be interested in joining. Despite feeling a bit out of place, attending the fair was one of the best decisions I made in college. It was at this event that I was introduced to The Chronicle.

Not only was I drawn in by the friendly writers tabling for the newspaper, but also the idea of writing for the sports section was extremely appealing. The thrill of being able to cover a men’s basketball game as a reporter for the newspaper was just enough to tip me over the edge into becoming a “Chronicler.” What I have found over the past two years, however, is that often times the lesser publicized Duke sports are the most fun to cover. Though I am no longer a collegiate athlete, I have remained closely tied to Duke athletics, as my position as a staff writer and associate editor for The Chronicle has further connected me to the school by offering me the opportunity to meet numerous student-athletes, coaches and members of the athletic department. Writing for The Chronicle has provided me with the liberty to entrench myself in sports in a way more suitable and enjoyable to me now—watching, analyzing and writing about them.

Though at times I would dread having to sit down, transcribe quotes and write a decent article, seeing my work in print the next day is always totally worth it. But even more rewarding is the time I got to spend in The Chronicle office with the incredibly diverse, hard-working staff of a nationally-acclaimed newspaper. If you are unable to find me at a Duke sporting event or in Au Bon Pain doing work, you will likely find me in The Chronicle office. Even if I am not writing or editing that night, I find myself going up to the office just to hang out with all of my closest friends.

For the first two years of college, I had no idea what went into putting together a daily newspaper on a college campus. Now, I know, and I have a newfound respect for those who voluntarily contribute and produce so much quality content every day. The countless hours student writers and editors spend up in The Chronicle office working can far exceed the amount of time an athlete spends on a practice field, but their efforts often fly totally under the radar.

Though I am no longer a student-athlete, I still feel incredibly attached to what I am so passionate about in sports and collegiate athletics through my work with The Chronicle. I have found a new clique, a new affiliation. The Chronicle is my new niche, and I am honored to be a part of it. I guess you could say I’m “Chronically” obsessed with it.