Lifetime goals Noelle Simon

The athlete-to-captain relationship is the lifeblood of any functioning sports team. After all, the team captain essentially acts as a mediator between the other players and the coach. Some other jobs of a team captain include, but are not limited to: best friend, problem solver, bearer of bad news, etc. For example, if all the swimmers rebel because they do not like the type of kickboards the coach bought, or because the water is too cold, or because practice went over time, the captain has to be the one to convey the feelings of the team to the coach. In reality, team captains should be branded with a tattoo that says “Don’t shoot the messenger” on their chests, but unfortunately we have to put up with it all because we were chosen to be the coach’s right-hand-men (or women). Team captains can also never slip up. Any mess-up could result in the classic “But Noelle did it, and she’s Team Captain!!” If this happens, I suggest you hop on a plane, change your name, and start a nice shepherding farm in Scotland that will leave no paper trail.

My point is that a team captain must exhibit an immense amount of leadership and deal with the weight of extensive responsibility. Being a team captain has prepared me for a career in Public...