Thank you so much to the Harvard Varsity Club for this incredible honor. It’s really humbling to be here amongst this extremely accomplished group. There are many people to thank, including all of my teammates, coaches, and supporters along the way. In particular, I’d like to thank my parents who are here tonight. As immigrants, many sports were foreign to them, particularly field hockey. But they supported my desire to play nonetheless, driving me to and from practice or camp. They attended almost every single game, even though it meant waking up at 3AM to drive up from Baltimore, only to head back at 3PM after our post-game tailgate was over. Thanks to you both for your sacrifice and unending support. 

Another big thank you is to Coach Sue Caples, who took a chance on a nerdy teen with limited experience. Without you believing in my potential, I wouldn’t have had the chance to play at a high level with such a great group of teammates. You really cared about all of us as student-athletes and people, and I think the successes of your coachees is a real testament to that. I have the fondest memories of practices, games, road trips, and friendships, so thank you for creating the opportunity and fostering it. 

A few teammates are here tonight, including Jen McDavitt, another inductee - congrats Jen, and her sister Kate Urquhart, hall of fame class of 2019. I owe a huge part of any success to my teammates. I remember showing up to day 1 of preseason as a freshman. The level of skill and talent was incredible – I was definitely not in Kansas anymore. The only thing I could do to not embarrass myself was to tough it out on the beep test and try to be the last one standing. But from then on, every practice I learned from them including new skills and toughness. I always thought I was a super-competitive person – that’s until I met Kate and learned a whole new level of wanting to win. Thanks to you all for teaching me so much and for the lifelong friendships. 

This is the first time I’ve been back to Boston in almost 10 years – it’s wild to have so many formative memories here. Thinking back on my time as a student-athlete, I didn’t realize at the time how truly special it is. To dedicate yourself to a sport and team while juggling school and other extracurriculars is a lot to ask of an 18 year old; in many ways you have to grow up fast. But it didn’t feel that way because we were having so much fun doing what we loved. Learning to work together with 20 other young adults can also be a big ask; but a shared love of sport, common goal to grow and win, and a mutual respect made it easy. In my current life as a parent and surgeon, a lot of what I learned in my time at Harvard makes it all doable. Home and family life is teamwork, understanding and drawing on each other’s strengths, helping others when they need it. People often say surgery is a team sport, as the outcome is best if we all work together, prepare, and communicate. This is all second nature with everything learned through athletics. Looking back on my time at Harvard, I wish I could have told my younger self really just how special that time was and how much it shaped me. I’m grateful for all of those opportunities and experiences. Thank you again HVC for this honor and congratulations to all of the other inductees.