Full Great Women Great Danes Interview Transcript
UAlbany's Great Women Great Danes is a new series that will be published during Women's History Month. The series will feature Great Danes, past and present, and celebrate the women of UAlbany.
Q: Can you talk about your student-athlete experience so far?
A: So far, I would say there are a lot of ups and downs, I would say, as a senior. I think it is important to talk about the downs as much as the ups. I feel like I just overcame a lot of adversity, a lot of challenges.
Q: You competed in the Pan American Lacrosse Association Sixes Cup in September 2021, can you talk about that experience?
A: Yeah, so for me, personally, it was really personal and heart-touching. As an indigenous woman, I always had some obstacle come in the way of me being able to actually fully compete in a tournament with team Haudenosaunee - whether it was with money or an injury. As I was walking out with my sister and my cousins and the girls that I grew up playing with and especially my coach. We walked out and I said ‘Guys, I’m tearing up right now, I can’t believe I’m actually about to play with this uniform and represent our people, especially as a woman.’ Everyone was like wow, that’s actually crazy, that we’ve been playing for this long together and they were also shocked because this was my first time. It was very heart-touching; being my first time as someone that has been a part of the team but actually able to finally put on a tee and step on the field.
Q: You spoke about how an injury has stopped you before, can you talk about that a little bit more?
A: In 2019, I believe, the Summer World Games, I made the team as an attacker and was the captain at the time. Then a couple of months later, freshman year around February-ish, I tore my ACL and a lot of other complications came up. The moment I went down the one thing that I just thought about was all this was just taken from me with the snap of a finger. I think that it really opened my eyes to realize that there’s more to life than a sport or just sports in general. That there’s so much more that … that makes me, me … so much more than just this game. I think the injury helped me realize that. Obviously, a lot of mental issues came with it, but I think that it made me stronger as a person and as an athlete.
Q: Can you talk about the journey back to competing after you tore your ACL?
A: It was challenging. Obviously, it didn’t come as quickly. It took a couple of months, another injury occurred and after that, it was a lot of sitting down and just talking to people and admitting that I wasn’t okay. I think that’s the first step; realizing that…just realizing that it was actually a challenge, instead of me putting on a smile every day and everyone thinking I was being so positive. I think when I opened up and said I’m struggling is when I started receiving the most help. Being vulnerable isn’t always a bad thing and that’s something I learned along with the injury. I think that being vulnerable gives you a chance to have others lift you up. I think with an injury that’s something I learned is that it’s okay to not be okay.
Q: You won the Tewaaraton award in 2018, how did it feel to receive that honor?
A: It was honestly really amazing, especially because my dad teared up a bit. It wasn’t just because it’s something that you win - a lot of people relate that to lacrosse and playing lacrosse and having these points and stats and whatever, but the other side of it is the academic side, the community service side, and he was really proud. He was just like … I mean lacrosse is lacrosse, but to see you win something and get acknowledged for your academics, community service and just being a good person is something a dad always wants to see. For me, it was like, it wasn’t that I won the award but it was that I made my dad really proud. I thought walking onto the stage was nerve-racking but being able to see him in the stands was just really relieving and calming to see, just like a proud moment for everyone.
Q: How have the women around helped make you the athlete and woman you are today?
A: Coming to UAlbany, I was always the oldest one on my previous teams. So coming here as one of the babies I…it was so weird because it was like I’m not the one that needs to make the calls. And it was so nice to have people that I can go to that are older than me. I know that the older girls really helped me a lot, Sam Tortora, J. [Jordyn] Marr, Imani Hedgeman, a lot of those girls really helped. I remember telling them one day when we were at CityLax and the younger girls were like what is something that you were sad about when you guys came to college? I was like, ‘I mean, yeah I left my lacrosse family at home, but I don’t think of it as leaving them’. I thought of it as I’m getting more sisters coming here now and everyone was kind of like, wow. Ever since I came here I’ve had so much more family added on to my family back at home and it just keeps expanding.
Q: What does it mean that people may be looking up to you because of your position and even just your experience with an injury?
A: Whenever I’m asked about how I want to be looked at as a lacrosse player, the one thing I always tell them is that I don’t want any girl, or even a guy, … anyone to ever look up to me just as a lacrosse player but off the field, too. That’s what I always want someone to do. If they’re looking up to me, I want them to also look up at what I’m doing academically, what I’m doing off the field that is helping me on the field. I think that’s something just as important.
Q: What does Women’s History Month mean to you?
A: To me, it’s just something that is so amazing to see. I was once the little girl looking up to all these women. I would always be like wow, I wanna do that and thinking that there’s someone else thinking that about me pushes me to wanna be better for them and for the next generation.
For more interviews from the Women's History Month #GreatWomenGreatDanes series, click here.
