Lax bros by Emiko P. '25
and their workflows
The start of spring is an important time — not because summer is drawing near, not because the temperature is heating up, and not even because the sun stays out past 6 pm. No, the start of spring means one thing and one thing only: it’s lax season!!
The women’s and men’s lacrosse games are staples of an MIT student-athlete’s spring. Those games are a great chance to get outside and watch some fire athleticism on Roberts and Jack Barry Field.
I got the chance to catch up with Sydney P. ‘25 and Isaiah N. ‘26, and they told me a little bit about life as an MIT lax bro.
Tell me about yourself and what you’re involved in outside of lacrosse.
Sydney: Hi! My name is Sydney and I’m a senior studying Chemical-Biological Engineering (10B) and Finance (15-3). I’m originally from outside of Philadelphia, PA. Outside of lacrosse, I’m also a member of Greek life, a senior chair on the ChemE Undergrad Student Advisory Board, and a campus tour guide.
Isaiah: I’m a current third year studying electrical engineering and computer science. Outside of lacrosse, I am an undergraduate researcher at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab, I work as a learning assistant for Computation Structures, and I’m an active member of a fraternity on campus.
Tell me about your lacrosse background and your lacrosse experience at MIT.
Sydney: I started playing lacrosse when I was in fifth grade and have been playing ever since. I didn’t always know I wanted to play in college, but when the recruiting process began, I quickly fell in love with the idea of playing and studying at MIT. It has been such an amazing experience — the mitlwax community is truly unlike any other I have been a part of.
Isaiah: I’ve been playing lacrosse for 11 years now, starting when I was 10 years old. For almost all of those years, I’ve played on the defensive side of the field as a long stick defender. Specifically at MIT, lacrosse has played a central part in my experience here. It gave me the opportunity to continue playing the sport I love and I’ve even met some of my closest friends from the team. Overall, lacrosse provides a great outlet away from academics and work.
How is your season going so far?
Sydney: Our season has been really fun so far! We graduated a lot of amazing seniors last year, so this has been a year of rebuilding our program. We have grown so much as a unit over the past couple of months, and it’s been truly so fun to watch all of the pieces come together in our games. We are currently 6-1 in conference play and getting ready to begin the NEWMAC tournament.
Isaiah: The season has been going well so far. We’ve had lots of close games this year and have been playing some solid competition. I think we should be getting a good seed for NEWMACs at the end of the year.
What is something you’re looking forward to for the rest of the season?
Sydney: I’m excited to compete in playoffs and — fingers crossed — finish off our season with a NEWMAC Championship ;)
Isaiah: The main thing I’m looking forward to for the remainder of the season is playing the rest of the teams in the NEWMAC. Conference games are always the most intense and competitive. We even have some school rivalries going, so these types of games are always a lot of fun to play in.
Best lacrosse memory from MIT?
Sydney: For the past two Spring Breaks, our team has been stuck on campus with conference games. So to make our own fun, we rented out an airbnb in Maine to spend a weekend together. I have made some of my best memories during my time at MIT during these trips — so many laughs, coffee walks, hikes, and just getting to spend time together.
Isaiah: My best lacrosse memory from MIT was winning the semifinal game in the NEWMAC tournament against Springfield. Springfield is definitely one of our rivals so there was a lot of build up before the game. The game was super close but we came out on top.
Day-in-the-life in season?
Sydney: A Wednesday game day typically begins for me with waking up at 9 AM and enjoying my breakfast before crossing the Charles River from my house in Boston to campus for my first class of the day. At 10 AM, I have 10.490 Integrated Chemical Engineering. After class, I’ll head over to my fellow seniors Jules and Syd’s apartment to enjoy lunch together. Then, Julianne and I will head to our next class of the day at 1 PM at Sloan, 15.465 which is Alphanomics: Behavioral Finance. After class, we usually go to the Stud (Student Center) and print out our game day posters and buy snacks for our psych buddies before heading over to the locker room. Then the fun begins! The locker room before games is always so chaotic — filled with dancing, hair braiding, Celsius-drinking, and pre-game cheers. We’ll then play our game (and win!!) and spend the rest of the night having dinner and finishing up school work for the day.
Isaiah: On a typical day, I wake up at 9:00 AM to get ready for the day. Before heading to host 10:00 AM office hours for Computation Structures, I make sure to grab a quick snack. By 11:00 AM, I head to lecture for Design and Analysis of Algorithms. After lecture I head to lunch, which is almost always Chipotle or Cava. I then have about a 3 hour break where I usually work on my research or some problem sets. From 5-7 PM, I go to lacrosse practice and then eat dinner at my fraternity. For the rest of the night, I mostly do homework.
Favorite thing about the lacrosse team?
Sydney: I love how close our team is. We all genuinely care about each other so much, and I can say with confidence that spending every day together from 5-7 (or sometimes even longer) is always the highlight of all of our days. I can always count on mitwlax for someone to study with, get hype with, crash out with (after a tough loss), or celebrate with.
Isaiah: My favorite thing about the lacrosse team is the team culture. Everyone works hard around the clock both on and off the field, whether it be academics or athletics. Anytime you may need something, there’s always someone willing to help you out. Beyond that, the guys on the team always make sure to leave time to hang out with one another and have fun.
Good luck with the rest of your season, wlax and mlax! As always, roll tech!
