2023 LFHS graduate Caroline Keil has been making an impact her past two years at the University of Denver. Not only is Keil immersed academically in studying finance, but she is also a large contributor to the Denver women’s lacrosse team.
After redshirting her freshman year, Keil came back and has since been instrumental in Denver’s game— being the key piece to their offense.
Although it was an adjustment from what Keil faced in high school, she is loving the competitiveness and support that comes with Division I lacrosse.
“Playing D1 lacrosse has been the most fun time of my life. The athletic environment at Denver is structured around the goal of excellence, and we are treated very well here with access to a lot of resources to succeed. I love being around my coaches and teammates everyday and it has been such a great experience so far,” Keil said.
Keil has built a strong bond with her team these past two years. They do everything together, from going to early morning practices to traveling to other universities.
“My favorite part of college has been my teammates. It is so much fun having 36 sisters that you get to see everyday. We get to be with each other through so much, like the long cross-country travel days, and so much more, which makes us all so close,” Keil said.
Even though Keil has had a great experience with her team, she did need to make some adjustments regarding time management and unexpected scheduling. Keil has to travel for many out-of-state games and tournaments across the country like California, Florida, and the Midwest, all while keeping up with classes and exams.
“The biggest change that I have had to make when adjusting to college life is that you aren’t going to have consistency a lot of the time, especially with traveling. So, I had to learn to be more flexible without everything having an exact plan,” Keil said.
After her past two years at Denver, Keil has a lot of advice to share. She emphasizes that it is vital to go out of your way to meet new people as having a lot of connections is what it takes to make such a large community feel tight knit.
“Advice that I would give to high school students while they’re preparing for college is to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. You are going to be in a new place surrounded by new people, which can definitely feel intimidating; but, it is also an incredible opportunity to meet as many people as possible,” Keil said.
As her sophomore year begins to come to a close, Keil looks forward to her next two years at Denver. After winning the Big East Tournament, Denver unfortunately fell short to Stanford this year in the playoffs, but Keil has plenty of time to come back and take her team all the way to victory.
