Heyyy!
My name is William Villa, and I was born and raised in the Dominican Republic. Since a young age, I always wanted to try new things, go on adventures, and always be outside, for example, i wanted to learn how to play the trumpet so i went out and learn how to play it, or trying to learn how to play basketball (which, by the way, I quit after two weeks because I couldn’t make a layup), and playing baseball, which was one of my first loves. I was only 12 years old while trying so many different things. I was having the time of my life, and my mom always had my back in everything I did. She always tells me, "Tu puedes hacer todo lo que tu quieras mi hijo solo cree en dios y para lante," which means you can do anything you put your mind to, just believe in God and keep moving forward. Her believing in me gave me the confidence to try anything I wanted to do.
At the age of 13, I moved to New York City's Harlem with my mom, my little brother, and grandma without knowing any English other than "I can use the bathroom". A month after arriving in the U.S. I started middle school in the 7th grade with only two people in my class who knew how to speak Spanish, and the rest of the school spoke English. I remember when people asked me what my name was. I would look at them, smile, and say “yes," not knowing what they were saying. This motivated me to start asking one of my two peers who spoke English what the meaning of any word I heard was till he got tired of me and started running away when he knew i was going to ask him something so i can up with the idea of translating my homework in Spanish and then back in English every day until I started to understand it the language.
Being as outgoing as I am, I wanted to keep playing baseball and doing all the other things I was doing back home in the Dominican Republic, but things weren’t working out for me until one day a lacrosse coach part of a non-profit organization named Harlem Lacrosse who work at the school came to me with the only boy in my class who spoke Spanish and asked me if I wanted to try the lacrosse while explaining to me that they do overnight trips to multiple cities and that the program named Harlem Lacrosse would also help me with tutoring and extra study hours where I could do my homework and ask for help if I needed it. But what I didn't know was that once I picked up my first lacrosse stick, I was going to fall in love with everything about the sport. It was something I had never felt before. I was free from all the things that were going on. Once I started playing lacrosse with my teammates, who became my brothers, I started a journey when I said yes to my coach that took me here to St. Lawrence University, and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. From not knowing English and being unable to do my homework to being a first-generation college student and playing the sport I love in college in only 6 years, I thank God for always guiding me down the right path, and I thank my mom and family for always believing in my crazy ideas. I also thank Harlem Lacrosse and all the coaches for introducing me to such an amazing sport and for always supporting me in my journey. I’m glad to be a part of the St. Lawrence community, and I can’t wait to see what will happen in the next 4 years.
