By Maggie ’26
When I arrived at Harvard-Westlake as a 7th grader, I knew I wanted to be a part of the athletics program at school. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I had to wait a year before joining. During my first (and only) year of middle school sports in 8th grade, I was a part of the soccer team during the winter athletic trimester and field hockey during the spring season. I signed up for field hockey because I had watched the field hockey game at Homecoming and it looked like a lot of fun. I really enjoyed my time on both teams and knew I wanted to continue playing sports throughout my high school career.
At Harvard-Westlake, 9th grade is technically the start of high school even though you are still at the middle school campus. However, through athletics, you can get a chance to preview life at the upper school. In the summer before 9th grade, I tried out for the field hockey team and made it to varsity! This meant that there would be traveling to the upper school to practice with the team during the season. Harvard-Westlake does a great job of making this transportation as easy as possible. As a 9th grader playing a sport, you can opt out of P.E. and have 9th period free. This allowed me to take the upper school shuttle, which departs the middle school around 2:30 and gets to the upper school campus around 2:50-3:00. Most practices start no earlier than 3:15, so there is plenty of time to change and get settled before practice. After practice, there is a shuttle back to the middle school that leaves at 5:10 and arrives in time for the middle school late buses (which leave at 5:45).
Traveling to the upper school during my freshman year taught me a few different things. I got to meet so many new people who I had never shared a campus with before. These welcoming upperclassmen shared their experiences and advice, and were very supportive of me during my first year of high school. Additionally, I was able to explore the upper school campus a little more, which made the transition to sophomore year a little bit easier.
Being a part of the field hockey team has also taught me how to balance my activities and manage my time. Because not many nearby schools offer field hockey, we often have to travel far for away games. This means that for these games, our excuse times are quite early. Because of this, I’ve learned to plan ahead and figure out when and which classes I will be missing and how to make up the work. The teachers are very accommodating and work with the athletes to make sure they keep up. Using my planner and managing my time wisely has really helped me maintain a healthy schedule and stay on top of everything.
Field hockey is now a huge part of my life. After my positive experience on the middle school team, I started to dedicate a lot of time and energy into getting better. After a long day of school, it’s nice to spend time outside and get exercise. I really enjoy having this break between the school day and doing my homework. The team is very tight-knit; we spend a lot of time together on our long bus rides to away games and we even went on a fun preseason road trip! I’ve also made some of my closest friends through the field hockey program and have made so many connections to upperclassmen that I would not have met if it weren’t for field hockey. I’m so glad I am a part of this program and I’m grateful that I gave it a shot in 8th grade!
