There was never any doubt about it. Huntington High School senior Holly Wright was always destined to play lacrosse at SUNY College at Cortland. She’s following a family tradition.
Ms. Wright’s mother and sister both played lacrosse at Cortland and one of her brothers is there now. She’s always had her eye on the college, too. The teenager recently formally committed to the upstate New York school and she couldn’t be any happier.
Huntington High School senior Holly Wright.
“Cortland has always been my No. 1 school,” the senior said. “My mom went there and was an All-American lacrosse player. Then my sister, Colleen went there and won a national championship, was a captain and won a number of awards. My brother Will goes there now and just absolutely loves it. Cortland has been my home away from home for as long as I can remember.”
Ms. Wright essentially turned off any possible interest in any other college a long time ago. “To be completely honest, I didn’t even e-mail other schools, I just always knew Cortland was for me,” she said. “College coaches were going up to my Yellow Jackets club team coach asking about me, but everyone knew it was always going to be Cortland. I went up for my overnight visit a few weekends ago and it just hit; there is no other place or no other school that I could see myself at for the next four years.”
The Huntington teenager intends to study elementary education and eventually pursue a master’s degree in special education. “I would really love to be a special ed teacher,” Ms. Wright said.
The senior plays on Huntington’s field hockey, basketball and lacrosse teams. She is a defensive specialist in all three sports. A member of the Art Honor Society she’s also in the high school’s A World of Difference (AWOD) club.
“Every senior I have ever talked to the years before I was a senior all told me the same thing; high school goes by so beyond fast,” Ms. Wright said. “Yeah, I would always listen, but now it’s real. It feels like just yesterday that I was a freshman and trying to figure out my life! My advice for the incoming freshmen is to just try to have fun with it. Spend time with your friends, say hi to everyone in the hall and just make Huntington the best place; which isn’t too hard because it already is.”
Asked to single out a favorite faculty member and Ms. Wright admits the question is a “hard one.” She has hit it off with teachers across every academic discipline.
“I have had such amazing teachers all my years in Huntington,” Ms. Wright said. “From Jefferson School with some of the nicest people alive; Woodhull School with teachers who taught me so much and Finley who got me ready for high school to the high school with teachers who have forever changed my life! My senior year teachers are the absolute best! I’m so happy and lucky I got them for my last year. Each and every one throughout the whole Huntington UFSD has shaped me into the person I am today and for that I’ll forever be grateful. Huntington has great teachers; so great I can’t even pick my favorite.”
Right now, Ms. Wright in the midst of the basketball season. She is looking forward to her best high school lacrosse season ever next spring. The teenager also wants to enjoy all the special senior year events that will play out in the months ahead.
“My experience at Huntington was just amazing,” Ms. Wright said. “It’s going to be so hard to say goodbye to the people that have made me into the person I am today. Huntington is and will forever be home. From being on three varsity sports all four years, finding out that I really love art and becoming friends with some of the best people I wouldn’t change a thing.”
