Coming to WKU was a completely new experience for me, especially since I am an out-of-state student. At the advice of my mom I joined the Honors College, and it turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life.

However, throughout my freshman year, I searched for that niche where I felt I really belonged. The first semester passed, and I still felt as if something just was not right. I loved WKU and the Honors College tremendously, but I had not found the one thing that I was deeply passionate for. 

While walking through Preston Center during the second semester of my freshman year, I was approached by an amazing person who I would come to know very well. Jennifer Chapman stopped me and asked if I wanted to play rugby. My first response was “what is rugby?”

I came out to two practices that week, and I was playing in my first rugby game by Saturday. Ever since then, I have been involved with rugby and the team. The other girls became my family away from home, and I learned that I could lean on them no matter what life threw my way.

I met my husband on the men’s rugby team, and one of my bridesmaids was a fellow rugby player. This sport has been my life for so long, and it has meant the world to me. After tearing my ACL last spring and not being able to play rugby this year, it has taught me that even though I could not play with them, I was still a part of the team.

Once you are involved with this group of girls, you are always a part of rugby, and the individuals I have met have impacted me more than they will ever know. They are family. I could thank a million people for what I have accomplished in my college career, but it would never do any of them justice.

I will miss WKU with all of my heart, and I am truly a Hilltopper for life.