Jen's Story

While I was in Chicago I stayed with my friend Jen. I’m not really supposed to stay with people I know, but due to the circumstances it was the easiest thing to do, and it worked out great to take the train to Chicago.

I met Jen when I was the photography editor for the yearbook at MSU and she was one of my most dependable photographers. She was always a joy to be around and put plenty of smiles on my face. At the time she was a freshman at MSU having moved from Chicago. During that year she was on the women’s lacrosse team. However, at the end of the year she decided that MSU just wasn’t for her and transferred to DePaul University back in Chicago. Well I didn’t see Jen again until the next school year when she made her grand trip back to MSU. And quite a story it is.

Although it was Jen’s sophomore year of college it was her first year at DePaul and she didn’t want to go without playing lacrosse. Well at the time there was no lacrosse at DePaul, so she went to work. She recruited players. She raised money. She found sponsors. She entered her new team into a league and made a schedule. She was the captain. She was the coach. She was the manager. She did it all. And like I said she did all of this while in her first year at the university.

Now this is where the story gets ever cooler. As I said I saw her the next year at MSU. She brought her new team that she put together herself to play against her former team at MSU. Jen was playing against all of her old teammates and friends with the team she created from scratch. The energy, motivation, and determination it took to arrange all of that must have been overwhelming. I was rooting against my own school that day Jen came back with her team. However, Jen and team, was beat quite handily.

That was last fall, it’s now a year later and Jen has found another person to coach the team. The team is going strong and is in the middle of another season. I have to hand it to Jen; she’s one of the most independent and hardworking people I know. Maybe it’s just me, but I thought it was highly inspirational. I know it helped encourage me to start something of my own. Well done Jen, well done.