"One Last Roar" is a series that will recognize the accomplishments of the senior student-athletes at Mount Holyoke College graduating during the 2020-21 academic year. From now until May, read about our senior student-athletes as they reflect on their careers as members of Lyons Nation. Make sure to check out Mount Holyoke College Athletics on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to see photos of their top memories with their teammates over the past four years.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Senior Libby Sams (Atlanta, Ga.), a Chemistry major and Biology minor on the Premedical track is a varsity hunter seat student-athlete at Mount Holyoke College who will graduate at the completion of the Spring 2021 semester.
Sams, one of the captains for the hunter seat team, acquired a number of first-place victories in various events during her career including a top finish in Individual Novice Flat at Zone 1 Championships in 2019 and also collected first place in Novice Fences and Novice Flat, which garnered Overall Reserve High Point Rider and Reserve High Point Novice Rider. Sams earned Honorable Mention in the Individual Novice Equitation on the Flat at the 2019 IHSA National Championships as a sophomore. Sams also placed fourth in the Intermediate Equitation on the Flat at the 2019 27th Holiday Tournament of Champions which aided Mount Holyoke in becoming the Reserve Champions. In March 2020, Sams earned the Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association (IHSA) National All-Academic Second-Team Award. IHSA members that produce a GPA of 3.5 or higher are selected to the All-Academic Second Team. Sams served on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) as an riding representative in 2019.
From Head Mount Holyoke Equestrian Coach, C.J. Law:
More about Libby...
Overall, share a few sentences about your time as a student-athlete at Mount Holyoke College. How has your experience as a student-athlete helped develop you into the person you are today?
My experience as a student-athlete at Mount Holyoke has been transformative. Mount Holyoke gave me such a unique opportunity to follow both my passions for riding and chemistry. Most importantly, it gave me an amazing and supportive community and lifelong friendships.
What were some of your favorite memories as a member of your team?
I always loved the car rides to tournaments. One of my favorite memories was as a first-year, driving to the tournament in Finley, Ohio. Although it was 5 a.m. in the morning, there was a wonderful energy in the car as we danced in our seats to our favorite songs and pumped each other up in anticipation of the show. I love this specific memory because I remember this moment as the first time I realized I had a chance to be a part of something great and so much bigger than myself.
Another great memory has to be the time I won my division at the Zone I championship my sophomore year. In order to qualify for Zones as an individual, you have to win first or second place at the Regional championship held the weekend prior. At Regionals, I won second place to a fellow UMass sophomore rider, Lexi Ferris, which meant I officially qualified for Zones.
Unfortunately, I was notified the day after of a mistake by the judge at Regionals in my class that would not allow me to compete in Zones. After so much hard work to get to this point and the excitement of thinking I qualified, I felt discouraged. CJ knew this and encouraged me to still come to practice the next day at least for the experience. Little did I know that the next morning during practice, CJ would receive an email from the UMass Equestrian team's Coach that Lexi Ferris forfeited her spot in the class so that I could still compete in Zones. She justified this extremely selfless decision since she qualified for two separate classes for Zones, she could still compete in the other class. That being said, her sacrifice was completely unexpected and made history in the IHSA. Lexi and I were in the same division, evenly matched riders, and always rode against each other as rival teams in season. Although we both wanted to win for our respective teams, we pushed each other to improve and formed a friendship after seeing one another frequently at competitions. At Zones the following weekend, I had just as many UMass riders helping me get ready to show as I did Mount Holyoke! I helped Lexi prepare for her class and she helped me prepare for mine. We ended up winning both of our classes, went to Nationals together, and have remained close friends ever since! To this day, I still feel chills remembering my name called out for first place as my captain handed me my ribbon and the eruption of excitement that followed from Lexi and all of my teammates. My teammates always believed in me, and I would not be the rider I am today without their support. Thus, after all the chaos of Regionals, I was overjoyed I finally got the chance to share that moment with them and make them proud.
What are your plans following graduation?
I will take my MCAT exams this summer and apply to medical school for the 2023 cycle. In the meantime, I will continue working as a Medical Assistant at a Gynecology and Obstetrics clinic at Northside in Atlanta, Ga. in order to gain more clinical experience. I hope to be accepted at the COMET Scribe Fellowship program at Stanford University, where I will be partnered with a physician in my desired field of medicine on how to chart physician-patient encounters during medical examinations and locate relevant information or forms needed for patient care. As of right now, I want to pursue a career in plastic surgery, where I can utilize what I've learned from Mount Holyoke's community in medicine and help people feel comfortable in their own skin. More specifically, I would really like to specialize in gender-confirming surgeries because a lot of physicians who work in this field do not realize the impact of aligning someone physically and anatomically to with the gender they identify with or have an understanding of the possible difficulties or trauma experienced to access these procedures in the first place. I would love to support the transgender community as a safe referral that patients know they can trust to not invalidate their journey, and give genuine support throughout the entire process, while also continuing work in my community to make these medical services more accessible and affordable.
Who have been some of your biggest supporters during your time at Mount Holyoke College? This can be anyone (i.e. family, friends, professors, coaches, etc.)
My coach, CJ Law, has also been such an incredible supporter during my time at Mount Holyoke. Whether it's giving me that extra push to persevere through the hard moments in and out of the show ring or being the first one to congratulate me when all of my hard work pays off, CJ's gone above and beyond her role as a coach. Most importantly, she's taught me what it means to be a champion. After Mount Holyoke, I know I'll stay in touch with CJ and the new Hunt Seat teams, but I will always miss the amazing opportunity of being her student.
For the sake of not leaving anyone out, I'm not going to specifically name anyone, but my friends have been my biggest supporters during my time at Mount Holyoke. Whether it's a study buddy working with me late at night in the library before a big exam, or my teammates helping me get in the zone at a show, I could not have accomplished what I have without the help of my friends. As a pre-med student-athlete and captain of my team for two years, my schedule was packed my junior and senior years at Mount Holyoke. Going into my junior year, I knew there would be a significant learning curve for me as captain while trying to balance my academics. Additionally, I knew that my new responsibilities would omit most of the quality time I had with my friends outside of class and practice. Even so, they constantly reached out and stopped by my dorm just to say hello. There were also times that I doubted my ability to handle everything on my plate to which they were always there to encourage me and give me the strength to keep doing my best every day. I'm certain that I could not have done it without them!
What is your favorite Mount Holyoke tradition?
My favorite Mount Holyoke tradition is either Convocation or Mountain Day! I just love the traditions where you can just feel the amazing, powerful energy the Mount Holyoke community exudes when we're together as a collective unit. Also, Mountain Day is particularly fun since I have a tradition with some of my friends to go get a new piercing after every Mountain Day from Lucky's!
Any words of advice you have for the future student-athletes of Mount Holyoke College?
Enjoy every moment! My time at Mount Holyoke flew by way too fast!
When I was a sophomore, a senior on my team told me to do just this. At the moment, it was the beginning of the spring semester and I was complaining about the cold as we walked to the barn for 7 a.m. practice. In response, she told me to cherish moments like these, moments when I'm tired and cold walking to the barn for practice because college goes by so fast, and one day I'll be walking to morning practice for the very last time. Looking back at this memory, I realize she could not have been more accurate. My time on campus flew by and now my practices and team experiences are limited to the number of weeks left in the semester, and I would do anything to walk in the cold again to morning practice!
|
|
|
For the latest updates on Mount Holyoke College Athletics, follow the Lyons on social media on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. You can also subscribe to our Youtube Channel.
