Thank You Carolina Jump Rope
This is probably the hardest goodbye of college for me because it was the first hello. When I decided to come to UNC as a senior in high school, I knew that I would have Carolina Jump Rope as a group I could join and that was the only thing I knew for sure that I wanted to be involved in. It ended up becoming something that I’m so endlessly thankful for, and it has rekindled my love for jump rope in a way I didn’t even know I needed.

As a freshman, it brought me some of my first friends in college. Graham and Noah immediately took me in and helped me adjust to college life. I still remember fall fest my freshman year when we had to end early because it was raining, so Graham and Noah took me to Sup Dogs for the first time because all of the dining halls had already closed and I hadn’t eaten dinner yet. Some of my favorite shows I’ve ever been a part of with Carolina Jump Rope happened my freshman year, and I got to make new friends and become closer with the friends I already knew before joining.

As a sophomore, I was on exec for the first time. I loved running the social media for Carolina Jump Rope starting to give back to the organization that I loved so much. The exec for this year was so strong, and I loved getting closer with this group and seeing what we could accomplish to help the team grow. One of the highlights of this year for me was winning long rope speed at the University Jump Rope Summit, and then going to the Summit party that night might have been one of my favorite parties I’ve been to in college. Unfortunately the year got cut short due to COVID, but we continued jumping from home, and it meant so much to me that we tried to keep things going as much as we could despite not being together in person.

Then junior year, Carolina Jump Rope helped me get through a year of COVID learning. For this year in particular, I’m so thankful for Madison and Carolina Jump Rope for giving me even the slightest sense of normalcy during some of the hardest and worst parts of my time in college. The day that we got to return to in person practices in a gym was so exciting, and even though that year the team was the smallest I’ve ever seen, I was thankful every time I got to go to practice because it gave me something to look forward to. It wasn’t what anyone who had already been on the team thought or hoped the year was going to look like, but it taught me a lot as vice president for how to handle the following year.

And just when I didn’t think saying goodbye would get any harder, then comes senior year. As president I wanted to get the team back on its feet, and I’m happy to say that I think this is the most connected I’ve ever seen the team as a whole. I do think a large part of that is from traveling to the University Jump Rope Summit this year, watching the UNC/Duke final four game at a bar in Ohio with the team is truly an experience I will never forget. I’ve loved watching the team grow, and seeing some new members show a passion for jump rope that reminded me of when I was first starting. Shoutout to Luke for always coming to practice so excited to just be there and jump because that always made my day and made me want to work even harder for the team. I also couldn’t have done it without my exec, and Erin in particular has been the best vice president to have by my side. This year’s team has me so excited for the future of Carolina Jump Rope, and I am so confident that next year’s exec is going to do amazing things.

Last night was the end of year party for the team, and we gave out paper plate awards. I received the “We Love Carly” award, and I can’t express how much love I have for this team and how close they had me to crying on multiple occasions. The people have changed over the years, but this team has gotten me through the highs and lows of college, and I am a better person because of my experiences with this team. To everyone who has been on the team with me, and especially this year’s team, I’m sorry I can’t mention all of you individually but please know I appreciate all of you so much and you’ve made saying goodbye to Carolina Jump Rope even harder than I thought it would be. I love Carolina Jump Rope so much, and I am thankful that I was able to leave an impact on this team because it left such a huge impact on me.