The last few weeks have truly been a whirlwind of adjustments from our "normal" lives on campus. Since receiving the email announcing that we will remain remote for the rest of semester, there have been a multitude of emotions: sadness, frustration, nervousness about the unknown. All St. Lawrence students and student-athletes have undergone an immense amount of change in quite a short amount of time.
We were all holding on to the sliver of hope that just maybe April 13 would be a reunion back on campus, and with the loss of the IHSA season that hope was something our team did not want to let go of. However, the safety and well-being of students and faculty, of course, takes precedence. This is simply another challenge to overcome, which is something the St. Lawrence riding team is quite good at.
As a senior on the team, I was lucky enough to be named this year's team captain, and it is quite hard to put into words how much SLU riding means to me. Friendship, horsemanship, dedication and love stand out when I think of our team. It provided us all with structure, a competitive outlet and the best of friends. We have, to put it lightly, been through a lot this year, and we have fortunately come out stronger than ever because of it. Thanks to our coaches, four legged teammates and this university, not much can shake us. Our team has grown incredibly close this semester, and now being at home and not seeing each other, we had to come up with new ways to stay in touch. We talk every day, whether that be through a funny horse video over Snapchat or a heartfelt I miss you message in our GroupMe.
The lack of on-campus structure is one of the main changes that we are all adapting to, yet the Laurentian for Life mentality has not allowed any of us to drift too far apart. We hold our weekly team meetings over Zoom and continue to partake in team requirements, but through cleaning our rooms instead of our lockers. COVID-19 has reshaped what a senior spring on the riding team, and a successful IHSA season should look like, but we are so lucky to be a part of such an amazing program. To this team, thank you, you have all showed a new type of strength this year and I am so lucky to have been a part of it. To our coaches, you continue to inspire us to look on the bright side of things, and it is through you that we have all obtained so many skills that aid us in dealing with changes and preserving through anything. And to our horses, we miss you dearly, and cannot wait for the day when we will see you again soon.
We are facing the loss of our season and our time on campus head on and united, as we have with any other obstacle. It's heartbreaking to say the least, for the seniors, as well as the rest of the team, but thanks to FaceTime, Zoom and all forms of social media, funny stories can still be shared. St. Lawrence has proven to be a home-away-from-home more times than I can count, and online learning certainly doesn't affect the connection we all have to each other.
Maddie Hogan '20 is a senior on the riding team. This piece is part of a series of stories by student-athletes about how St. Lawrence student-athletes saw their academic and athletic plans change rapidly as the spread of COVID-19 across the nation caused St. Lawrence to make the transition to remote learning instruction after spring break. If you are a St. Lawrence student-athlete interested in participating in this project, please contact Aaron Todd at atodd@stlawu.edu.
