EASTON, Mass. – The 2025-2026 Senior Reflections is a series of annual collections. Senior representatives of teams at Stonehill have been invited to contribute and reflect on their personal experiences over their four-year careers at Stonehill - both on and off the playing surface. 

Anneliese Beltran, Women's Tennis
 
Why Stonehill?
When I chose Stonehill, I wanted to put myself somewhere new and unfamiliar. Not because I had never lived away from home before, but I had always had my sister with me. Coming here was the first time I was truly on my own.

When I visited campus, I remember thinking how beautiful everything looked and how calm it felt. Even on a rainy day like when I visited, it felt welcoming, like somewhere I could grow. Stepping foot on campus as a freshman, I knew I'd be challenged in ways I hadn't been before, not just on the court, but in life. I wanted a team, a coach, and a community that would push me but also have my back.

Stonehill gave me that balance, offering me both the chance to step outside my comfort zone and the support system to help me through it. This decision ended up shaping me more than I expected.

How Stonehill Has Shaped You?
Stonehill didn't just give me an education about my major or minor. It gave me an education on life. It taught me how to live on my own, how to share space, how to speak up, and how to trust my voice. It taught me to rely on myself to know what I like, what I don't like, and who I want to be.

I've come to appreciate things I never thought I would. The early, cold morning practices. The long travel days that somehow turned into some of my favorite memories. The van rides, our team playlists, post-practice breakfasts, and post-match dinners. Moments like these meant more than our match scores. Even the tough losses and hard weeks taught me more than the wins, and they shaped me more than the easy ones ever could.

Stonehill taught me to be patient with myself, with the process, with growth that doesn't happen overnight. It taught me to celebrate my wins, no matter how small, because sometimes the win is just showing up and giving an extra 10% when it feels hard to. Sometimes it's being a better friend, teammate, and leader than I was the day before.
I've learned that every experience, every person, every professor, every tennis match, and every place can teach you something if you let it. Some people teach me patience. Some teach me boundaries. Some teach me how much happiness there is in the in-between moments. All of them matter.

My time here has been about meeting strangers who became teammates, teammates who became friends, friends who became best friends, and best friends who became family. The people I've met throughout these past three, almost four years have made me better than I thought I could be. Watching everyone put their best foot forward for each other as a team has motivated me to do the same. Those funny moments with the girls, the way we show up for each other, those are the things that always make me smile.

Best Moments …
My best moments at Stonehill weren't always the obvious ones. Of course, there were matches and awards that stuck with me and still make me smile. Getting Rookie of the Week my freshman year after my team and I beat Merrimack, going to the ITA tournament all four years, and playing close doubles matches with my doubles partner, Julie, including earning a win against Brown at our ITA tournament this past fall.

Moving from second-to-last in the conference to #3 heading into the NEC tournament showed my team and me how much we could accomplish together. It was a result of belief, and every single one of us working to raise the standard. But some of my best moments were cheering on the girls on my team, the van rides back from a match singing all together, our long weekend matches, staying at hotels all together, or traveling down to Florida for spring break to play many matches. It was the opportunity to compete against great schools and to watch teammates grow in their own confidence on the court that motivated me.

Academically, it was the moments I started engaging with what I was learning and having the confidence to present in front of people.

But honestly, my best moments were the in-between ones. The conversations with the girls on my team, walks around campus, post-practice breakfasts, and random bursts of laughter until our cheeks hurt. The quiet realizations that I was exactly where I needed to be.

Lessons Learned
What I've come to learn about myself is that I'm more adaptable than I gave myself credit for and that I'm more connected to this place and these people than I ever imagined I'd be when I first arrived as a freshman. I've learned and continue to learn to be where my feet are. Not in the past, not worrying about the future, but fully present in whatever moment I'm in. I've learned to ride the ups and downs that every change brings.

The skills I take with me after crossing the stage at graduation are invaluable. Communication that I've learned from being part of a team, from my leadership role, from speaking up in classes, and learning how to connect with people. The ability to adapt to new environments and situations. Time management from balancing early practices, late-night lift sessions, match weekends, a social life, studying, and everything in between. Growth happens in discomfort, and if these four years have taught me anything, it's that the discomfort is temporary, but the person I become because of it stays with me. Stonehill gave me the space to learn all of this, and for that, I'll always be thankful.
 
To view the past Senior Reflections visit this site: 2025-2026 Senior Reflections. 

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