And just like that my time at Syracuse University has come to an end, and what a ride it was.
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I've learned more in these past five years playing hockey for Syracuse University than any textbook could ever teach me. I had two lessons in what heartbreak felt like: The first, losing in the College Hockey America Tournament Championship my redshirt freshman campaign, and the second this past season when I played my last game—Nothing will ever compare to going to battle with my family.
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I grew tremendously on and off the ice. I learned who I was. I learned how to be myself. I learned how to persevere. And most importantly, I learned how to do my own laundry and cook.
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In August 2015 I was starting a new chapter of my life, with new people, at a new school, in a new country.
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I was scared but excited for this new chapter to begin. Knowing I would have 21 friends the moment I stepped on campus helped put me at ease a little bit; I couldn't imagine having to make all new friends by myself. That has to be one of the best parts of being a student-athlete—you immediately have a whole team of friends. All that was thrown into jeopardy two weeks before I came to Syracuse when a pain in my side was attributed to a blood clot. I was told I would be on blood thinners for three-to-six months, but after three months I found out I had Antiphospholipid Syndrome and I would likely have to stay on blood thinners for the rest of my life. There was less than a five percent chance of reversing the condition, and it wasn't safe for me to play hockey while on the blood thinners.
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What I initially thought would be a three-month stint on the bench turned into my entire freshman year. I couldn't work out with the team or practice at all, and that was really hard on me. When I would watch the team go through a really tough practice or come up short in games, it tore me up inside. I wanted nothing but to be out there with them.
To fill my need to compete, I joined the rowing team. Rowing was one of the only sports I could play while on blood thinners because it's a non-contact sport, and I fit the mold well; 6 feet tall and athletic. I reached out to the head coach at the time, Justin Moore, asking if he would give me a tryout. It was a two week long tryout where I would practice with the team. Coach Moore and his assistants taught me the basics, put me through a few tests, and monitored my ability. At the end of my two weeks, I was blessed with an offer to join the team. I never got on the water with them because I was a major rookie, but I loved the competitive atmosphere. I did some of the hardest workouts of my life that spring. I've never walked up the stairs in the Carrier Dome the same after we did our weekly 40 minute Dome stair-workout. Rowing was an amazing experience, but it just wasn't the sport I grew up loving my whole life.
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Lindsay Eastwood practices with the rowing team.
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Eastwood and the rowing team pose for a photo.
Freshman year came to an end and it was the best and worst year of my life. I felt I was stripped of my identity after being medically disqualified from hockey, but I had met some amazing people and made some best friends. I contemplated long and hard on whether I was going to come back to Syracuse the next year. I wasn't able to play hockey and I didn't get into the program that lured me there in the first place. Going back home to Canada and trying to continue my hockey career was a thought, as my doctor at home had a plan to keep me on the ice. I also had the option to pursue rowing at a university in Southern Ontario. But never going back to 'Cuse just didn't feel right. So, halfway through the summer, I made the very wise choice to return to Syracuse in the fall because of the people I had met, and I couldn't get enough of the atmosphere. Â
I couldn't wait to get back to 'Cuse. As I was gearing up to head back in August, I found out that my blood condition had miraculously reversed itself, and that meant I could play hockey again. I didn't question it.
I hit the ice on that first day of preseason, a little out of shape, a little out of touch, but a whole lot in love with the game. I finally got to put on the Block S, a moment I had waited over three years for. A moment I will never forget. I teared up when I touched the ice for the first time in Orange.
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Eastwood would go on to be elected as an alternate captain for the ice hockey team ahead of the 2017-18 season before becoming co-captain the following year. This past season she served as the primary captain and finished second on the team in scoring (8-20-28). Her 23 career goals are the most ever scored by an Orange defender, and her 75 career points over 135 games are one shy of the program record for a defender.
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My redshirt junior season, 2018-19, was when I really realized why we play. We had a tough regular season and we weren't supposed to do well in the playoffs, but we came together as a team and played for each other and we had fun. After all was said and done, we found ourselves the CHA Champions for the first time in program history. It was an amazing feeling of accomplishment—all of our hard work had finally paid off.
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Winning the CHA title and going to the NCAA Tournament was by far the highlight of my college hockey career. I can't wait to come back years from now wearing our rings and reminiscing on how we sang the whole ride home from Buffalo and when we played in front of the sold-out crowd in Wisconsin.
 Eastwood hoists the CHA Cup following the team's victory over Robert Morris in the 2019 title game.
All this year we talked about how we were going to be back-to-back CHA Champs. When we didn't repeat, it stung the worst out of the other three playoff losses. I think after getting a taste of gold, losing just stung that much more. Not to mention it was the last time I would wear the Syracuse uniform. If I learned one thing over the last five years it was how to truly cherish a good thing, because it doesn't last forever.
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Looking back, it's the people that have made it so special. My coaches gave me a second chance to live out my dream of playing college hockey. The compassion of the medical staff to ensure I'm healthy under any circumstance. The entire Athletics Department that helped mold me for the future. I got some amazing hands-on experience with the Athletic Communications department. The support of my role models and teachers in that office was unmatched, they seriously helped set me up for my career. And as for my teammates, I couldn't have wished for a closer team than this. They are family, and at college that's when you need family the most.
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Eastwood and the hockey team participate in Ottothon.Â
Certainly, my roommates and friends played a huge role in making Syracuse home for these five years. I had the same two roommates—Maddi Welch and Allie Munroe—for four years. The memories we made going to football games, cheering on the basketball team in March Madness, going for drives, pranking each other—that's what I'll miss the most. I can't thank Syracuse enough for giving me best friends for life.
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"If I learned one thing over the last five years it was how to truly cherish a good thing, because it doesn't last forever."
My last lesson from Syracuse was that everything happens for a reason. The cherry on top to my five year expedition was my acceptance into Newhouse's Television, Radio & Film graduate program ahead of fall 2019. It took applying four times (my lucky number) but in my fifth and final year, I got to pursue my masters in the top communications school in the country. If I hadn't endured the roller coaster of a freshman year that I did and stuck it out, I would have never gotten into that program, met the amazing people that I did, or won a championship. What felt like the worst thing that could have happened to me turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me.
 Eastwood poses while doing an on-campus report.Maddi Welch, Allie Munroe, Lindsay Eastwood
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If I could go back and give 18-year-old me any advice heading into college, it would be to never say no to any opportunity, whether that be a chance to get better on the ice, going to an on-campus event, or getting ice cream with the girls, because you don't want to regret missing out on anything. And to also write a book of all the ridiculous stuff you did with your friends because Snapchat Memories only became a thing in sophomore year.
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It's been the best five years of my life. Now I can't wait to have kids and I hope for the life of me they can experience something as amazing as my last five years at Syracuse. If genetics have anything to do with it, maybe they will bleed Orange just like me!
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Go Orange!
