way to the academy. Since
she has been there, Orlan-
do has had to juggle a lot
of different things. Besides
her military training there
is school work and Division
I lacrosse.
Her days our long and tir-
ing, but Orlando has been
able to get a routine down
as she continues her col-
lege career.
“I would say my days from
morning until night are
pretty full,” stated Orlando.
“For me personally, having
a busier schedule makes it
easier for me to get work
done. “I feel like if I have
a lot of time I feel myself
slacking off, and not doing
my work. I am a big pro-
crastinator, so I will wait
to the very end to do some-
thing. So, having a very
busy schedule makes me
get things done promptly.”
There are times that a
schedule can get over-
whelming for a student
and they start doubting
themselves if they belong.
Orlando has never felt that
way. Sure her schedule
is extremely busy, but in
some aspect it’s rewarding.
She could have easily
stopped playing lacrosse
and just concentrated on
her academics - and no one
would have said a thing.
Playing lacrosse is what
keeps her going. There is
something about putting
on the jersey and having
West Point across the chest.
It’s a different kind of
honor when West Point is
blazed across the uniform.
For Orlando, lacrosse is all
she wants to do.
“When I get on the field
and put the jersey on, it’s
a humbling experience,”
stated Orlando. “I definitely
would not change playing
lacrosse. It adds so much
to my life as a Cadet here. I
think my life is much better
being a Cadet athlete.”
If there is one thing that
Orlando isn’t used to it’s
not getting on the field.
During her time at Lan-
caster, Orlando was the go
to player for the Legends.
If you needed a big goal it
was Orlando that delivered
the goods.
At West Point is has been
a different story. Last sea-
son Orlando didn’t see the
field as much as she prob-
ably would have liked. It
took awhile to adjust to the
fact that she needed to get
better and stronger in cer-
tain areas.
Orlando was a power for
a power house program in
Buffalo, NY. But, Buffalo
is still behind other areas
when it comes to lacrosse.
The teams in WNY are very
good, but compared to oth-
ers across the state they
don’t compare.
So, Orlando had to make
sure she worked on her
stick skills and others as-
pects of the game. She
needed to play catch up
while still wanting to make
a difference fort the Black
Knights.
“Everyone has a rookie
season, and in the back of
my head I just kept think-
ing this was my rookie
MAY 2019 | SportsUnion
season,” stated Orlando. “I
think my lacrosse IQ was a
little behind from others. I
was playing with Long Is-
land girls that were playing
since they were toddlers. I
just think their lacrosse IQ
was a little higher. I think
a year experience really
did me well. It was a hard
adjustment, but I think it
opened my eyes up to being
able to play a different role
on a team.”
Always thinking ahead,
Orlando hopes one day that
WNY becomes a hot bed for
women’s lacrosse like Long
Island or Maryland - two
places that are known to be
lacrosse factories.
Being able to start up pro-
grams at a very young age
for girls is only an advan-
tage for the area. It allows
the girls to be able to pick
27
up the sport and see if they
like it. It also allows the
high school programs to be
better.
While girls lacrosse in
WNY is seeing an influx of
talent, teams like Amherst,
Hamburg and Lancaster
are still at the top of their
games. Orlando hopes to
change that someday.
“I hope that one day WNY
does have more programs
for women’s lacrosse,” stat-
ed Orlando. “I hope it does
become a hot bed like areas
like Long Island, Syracuse
and Maryland. I hope one
day we are able to build up
to that. When I am older, I
want to be a big starter of
that. I want to make sure
that when you are 4-years
old that you can start play-
ing lacrosse.”