Ten years ago marked the start of our friendship. I met Maggie on the very first day of lacrosse tryouts, when she decided last minute to give the sport a chance. I had been practicing all preseason and hadn’t met her until that day, but she immediately stood out. She was so bright and full of sunshine, and I was drawn to her right away. As the season went on, we worked hard, grew closer, and learned to love the sport together.

At Lewis High School, many of the girls who played lacrosse also played field hockey. Maggie and a few of our teammates were trying out, and I decided to join too. Maggie earned a spot on varsity, while I played JV, and that’s where I met Jasmine. We had a few honors classes together but had never really connected until then. Jasmine was kind, hilarious, and incredibly smart. She always knew how to make you laugh and feel welcomed. At a small high school, sports teams became families, especially when the teams themselves were small. We played field hockey and lacrosse together, spent lunch periods together, and were all involved in student government or class office. By junior and senior year, we were finally all on the same teams: varsity field hockey in the fall and varsity lacrosse in the spring.

Despite never playing sports before high school, those years changed my life. Through lacrosse and field hockey, I met my best friends and got to experience something we all grew to love together.

We stayed close throughout college and into postgrad life, meeting up during winter and spring breaks and talking for hours in our cars parked by our favorite boba spot. Even though we don’t text every day, our friendship has always been the kind where time doesn’t matter; when we come back together, it feels like nothing has changed. Now Maggie has moved across the country for her new job, but I was able to visit her a few weeks ago, and Jasmine and I are attending grad school at VCU. We see each other when we can and hope to reunite again one day, whether through traveling or back at that same local boba spot.

I’ll always be grateful for FCPS and the lacrosse and field hockey teams at LHS for bringing these friendships into my life. We’ve been through so much together, truly watched each other grow up, and it’s been a gift every step of the way.