Jimmy Bitter '08 at the Winter Athletic Banquet

Jimmy Bitter ’08 was the speaker at the winter term Athletic Banquet, held on March 1, the night before students left for March Break. After graduating from Eaglebrook, Jimmy attended Deerfield Academy and then University of North Carolina; at both institutions he had an illustrious lacrosse career. The Ohio Machine, a major league lacrosse team, drafted Jimmy in 2015 and he scored 21 goals in his rookie season. Jimmy now works as a cyber-security underwriter for Chubb Insurance Company. Eaglebrook Athletic Director Luke Williams said in his introductory speech for Jimmy, “After hearing this you may think that Jimmy was a one-dimensional athlete, but this is definitely not true. He was on the honor roll the entire time he was at Deerfield Academy, and he was also an all-ACC academic honor roll selection each of his years at UNC. It is clear that Jimmy truly embodied the term student athlete.”

 

Jimmy spoke to the students about his athletic career and lessons he learned. He said to the students, “I am certainly glad I trusted my gut and decided to enroll here. I had a wonderful experience here, and I owe an incredible amount of what I was able to do in my life to Eaglebrook.” Watch Jimmy elaborate on what Eaglebrook did for him here. He continued, saying, “Although sports have taught me countless lessons about life, today I am going to highlight three that relate to you as Eaglebrook students now and will continue to relate to you during your future endeavors. The first is patience, the second is the importance of camaraderie, and the third is adaptability.” He gave some examples and then concluded, saying,  “Remember, patience, camaraderie, and adaptability are three of the many lessons sports can teach us. Be patient and give situations and plans a chance to play out. Be a good teammate and surround yourself with good influences. Put yourself in pressure and stressful situations so you can continue to adapt and learn how to handle them correctly.” Watch Jimmy elaborate on the importance of patience here.

 

When asked why he chose to bring back Jimmy to speak, Luke Williams said, “He is a true role-model for our boys and his message is both relatable and motivational.” See photos from the 2016-2017 winter athletic season at Eaglebrook here.