"The Freshman"

The “Freshman”
Shonuak Dharap
In memory of Will Dickens
October 20, 2009
To me, and the rest of the 08 varsity water polo team, he was known as "The Freshman." It wasn't a condescending term, but a term of endearment. He came on board his freshman year, an awkwardly lanky kid, still going through his growth spurt, but with the widest smile you've ever seen. He was a great guy. Sure he was the butt of teasing, but it was all superficial. He was the only freshman on our team, and he was bound to get ragged on. But in the end of the day, he was just as much an equal as any of us. In fact, perhaps more. It takes a lot of balls to be the only freshman on varsity, and he really filled the role, if not exceeded it. I saw him grow in just 1 semester of water polo, and not just physically. He was on swimming with us the next year, also on varsity. It really seems like just yesterday. He was determined to do well, and he knew he could do it because of his previous semester with us on polo. He busted his balls through those sets - through all of Dan's killer 200 sets, through all of those murderous pulling sets. He really pulled through and excelled. We kind of stopped teasing him during swimming. He had proven himself. And not only athletically. I talked to him. I made it a point to go up to him on campus whenever he was hanging out with his friends and a chat with him, or put him in an elbow lock and give him a big ol' noogie.

He was always there. When Josh and Post had their accident, and me, Jason, the Joneses, Cooke, and Berenfeld went to visit Clusin in the hospital - he came along too. He wasn't particularly close to Josh, and the rest of us had known him much longer, but he came anyways. He came because he was a solid guy. He came to support his teammates and I'd like to think, his friends. Alistair, Christian, and I used to make early morning trips to Happy Donuts, and I remember he even came along a couple times. That's not relevant, but I find myself remembering the little things.

After I graduated, I still kept in contact with some of the underclassman, and he was one of them. I talked to him every few weeks, asking him how life was, and how polo was going. He would talk to me about various things, and tell me about this and that - who he wanted to ask to homecoming - normal things that buds talk about. I even took him to lunch one time when I came home last year. Maybe it was winter break? Maybe it was some random weekend. We went to Mountain Mike's and just chatted for a while. I remember realizing that he had really grown up in that year. Christian and I went back home quite a few times last semester, and we'd go to swim practices. We played ultimate frisbee with the team a few times, and even swam with him. He was in the next lane over, at that JLS pool. I remember Christian and me talking about how much faster he'd gotten; how much he'd grown up in the last year. I feel like I'm being redundant, but I'm just writing down all these things popping into my head right now.

I know some of you knew him better, and please posts comments here if you have any memories you want to talk about, or just if you want to say anything. I know the team is taking it hard. I never thought it would be some one I knew. Someone I was close to. Someone I respected. Never thought it would be him. I am, as many of you must be, in shock. I talked with teammates earlier today. Jason, Josh, Vir, Alistair, Anand - we can't believe it. Anand said to me that he was such a happy kid. And he really did seem happy. He always had that huge grin. Jason said it's so unreal. That's really the only way to say it. Unreal. I don't know what lead to this, but I cannot stress enough the importance of communication. If you can't talk to your teammates and friends...who can you talk to? Just so you guys know, I love all of you. you guys are like to family to me, just like he is. And if you ever need to talk. About anything at all. You KNOW I'm here for you. Just a phone call away.

Will Dickens was a teammate, and even more, he was a friend. May he rest in peace.