MILTON, Mass. – Following the cancellation of the spring seasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including Senior Days, the Curry College Athletic Department wanted to give the senior student-athletes time to reflect on their career with the Colonels.
We continue our Senior Reflection web series and today we have Kayla Merritt (Attleboro, Mass.) from women's lacrosse:
Major: Nursing
Favorite Thing About Your Sport: My favorite thing about lacrosse is how different it is from all other sports. Even the team dynamic, I'm not sure why but there's something about lacrosse teams that makes them feel more like family than other teams.
Favorite Moment on the Field With the Colonels: My favorite moment on the field with the Colonels was beating Western New England in the 2019 regular season to secure a home playoff game. It was such a great team win and those are the best feelings.
What Being a Student-Athlete Has Taught You: Being a student-athlete taught me how to balance all the things life can throw at you. As I walk away from my four years with Curry College women's lacrosse, I feel confident in my leadership and interpersonal skills that I have developed. I had the opportunity to be a leader on this team for two years and the challenges thrown at me between lacrosse and nursing really taught me how to focus and accept what I can't change, but crush what I can change.
What You'll Miss Most About Your Team, Curry, and Being a Student-Athlete: What I will miss the most is the team dynamic. These girls have been the sisters I never had. I'm going to miss all the pregames in the locker room and most of all, taking on Hilton Head with all 20 of my best friends. Coach O'Byrne and Coach Campbell gave me the skills to grow into the person I am now through unconditional tough love. I wouldn't change that for anything and could never thank them enough.
Plans Post-Graduation and How Being a Student-Athlete Has Prepared You For Your Future Career Goals: After graduation, I plan to crush the NCLEX, become a registered nurse, and then further my education to become a nurse practitioner or midwife. The skills I developed from being a student-athlete will aid me in juggling the real world and work while trying to further my education.
What Advice You Would Give To Future Colonel Student-Athletes: Future student-athletes: ALWAYS and I mean ALWAYS play every game like it is your last. Take it from us, the Class of 2020. You put in all of this hard work and dedication for nine months to be able to give it your all in competition for three months. Definitely don't take that for granted. The preseason practices and early morning workouts may be annoying, but once all of that is gone, I guarantee you are going to miss it.
Check out our previous Senior Reflections:
Courtney Lima - Women's Lacrosse
Tyler Nadeau - Baseball
Michaela Colleran - Softball
Cameron Nigro - Men's Lacrosse
Abby Dubel - Women's Lacrosse
Adam Duarte - Baseball
Molly Horn - Softball
Sean Ford - Men's Lacrosse
Keep an eye on curryathletics.com for more Senior Reflections!
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