What Does It Mean To Be A Teammate?
Jordan Osborne (Defiance, OH)
The dictionary definition of a teammate is “to be a member of the same team”. But what all does being a teammate entitle? At Defiance College we have all sorts of teams. There are sports teams like baseball, softball, football, soccer, tennis and more. We have fraternities and sororities like Alpha Phi Omega or Alpha Xi Delta. We have Defiance College Chamber Singers, Project 701, the McMaster Program for Advancing Humanity, the Honors Program, Service Leaders, etc. The list goes on and on.
Everyone has their own definition of being a teammate.
Sophomore Izzy Martinez says that being a teammate is “being part of a brotherhood where you know that the guy next to you will give his all to achieve a common goal.”
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Freshman Abby Sarabia says that, to her, being a teammate is “knowing the strengths and weaknesses of your friend. It’s using their weaknesses to build upon their strengths and putting them into positions to succeed and it’s sharing a bond that you’ll have with minimal people throughout your life”.
Sophomore Brooke Waidelich believes that “being a teammate means working with others toward a common goal in which you will only succeed through encouragement and cooperation with the other members.”
Junior Megan Warren defines being a teammate as “being a family member to every other teammate. No matter what you have a connection with everyone else on your team and there’s a responsibility to give 100 percent in everything you do on the field and off to represent your family well. It means being there when someone else needs you and supporting the other members of the team all the time.”
Senior Amber Moomey is a member of the Criminal Justice Society, Alpha Phi Omega, Service Leaders, Habitat for Humanity, Project 701: Defiance College Recycling and Dance Marathon. Anti-Bullying, and has been involved in many different teams in her years here. To her, being a teammate “means having each other’s back and holding each other accountable for things on and off the court. You are there to support each other and help when needed without judgement.”
Senior Katie Haydett is a member of the Honors program, Service Leaders, McMaster Tanzania, Alpha Phi Omega, Project 701: DC Art Box, SAAC, she’s a resident assistant and also a Student Academic Support Services Tutor. To her, being a teammate is “a much bigger picture than some think. It requires you to give all of your time, focus, and energy to something bigger than yourself. It’s being an accountability partner, a motivator, a servant leader and most importantly family to those that stand beside you each day, fully invested. It’s a bond unlike any other that teaches you things you can’t learn in a lecture. To put it shortly, at the end of my four years here at DC, being a teammate has been one of the most rewarding jobs and the highest honor that I have been fortunate to experience.”
To me, being a teammate means being a sister. A teammate takes care of her teammates and is always there. To me, my team is my family; they have my back through thick and thin and will forever support me. A team is where you go to laugh, where you go to cry, where you go to become a better person, and where you go to create memories that will last a lifetime. My team is irreplaceable and I love and support every person on it.
With so many teams on campus, it is nearly impossible to not be part of a team in some form or another. Being a teammate and being part of something bigger than yourself is one of the most important achievements one can have. Here at DC though, we’re all one big team.
