The Division I Athlete ready to take on testing and the challenging season ahead

by Madison Leslie

The smells of Sodexo cafeteria quesadillas wafted through the room directly under Kiki Doucette’s nose as she in the

(Kiki Doucette’s Instagram)

middle of the cafeteria. The sounds of plates and cups were clicking and clanging in the background, Kiki couldn’t begin to eat because of the butterflies swarming in her stomach. However, Kiki was ready for the challenge to become a Division I athlete. Kiki is a sophomore and her team is transitioning to become Division I. Twenty minutes later, she walked out of the door of her dorm to the bubble. It. was then she could smell the mistiness of the rain and hear the calming sounds of the dropping of the rain  slipping off the building and hitting the pavement. However, this rain didn’t calm her inner nerves, it only got her shoes wet.  Kiki walked to the 3-minute walk to the bubble in sloshing steps. The freshmen surrounded her as they walked down together as team. Kiki was excited for the freshmen to be there and take on their first Division I season. They walked into the Bubble, had the card swiped, changed their lift shoes, and walked through the revolving door. The pressure change following the door and the smell of the rubber from the turf and track made her realize that it was finally time. The trainer then introduced the rules and addressed the team. Kiki stepped up to her rack and preceded to clean 145lbs to equal her clean max of the year prior. The attack of the cleaning motion felt natural to her as she emitted determination. She then benched 120lb. There was feeling of the bench fabric sticking to her back as she sat up with excitement. Her body rushed with energy and excitement from her head to her toes because she had increased her weight by 10 lbs.  Then she did her vertical test. From position to thrusting her body in the air she reached 21. She was jumping around sweaty and smiling with high energy and radiating positivity. She knew that her and her team had to be ready for their game against University of New Hampshire and the challenging yet thrilling season to follow.