Stacie Brown likes to say that she gives everything in life 110 percent.

It’s a lesson she learned on and off the lacrosse field and one she brings to freshman Rep. David Rivera’s office every day.

“Natural competitiveness is perfect for politics. You want to do the best and be the best you can be. It can be my Achilles’ heel at times,” admitted Brown, a senior legislative correspondent for the Florida Republican.

Perhaps her competitive toughness started as a kid. “I’d always get upset when my parents didn’t read to me. [They] couldn’t pull the book out of my hand,” she said.

Brown grew up in Upper Marlboro, Md., and spent summers with her family in Ocean City. She started playing sports in middle school and high school, and she focused on choosing a college where she could play lacrosse, earning an academic scholarship to Drew University in New Jersey.

“The high and low points of my college career happened on the field,” Brown said. She completed her career at Drew University as one of the most decorated women’s lacrosse players in the school’s history. She earned regional All-American honors four years in a row.

“For me, it was all about love of the game, and that love luckily blessed me and equally motivated teammates with some great accomplishments during my four years,” Brown said. “I will always cherish those memories. My teammates, my coaches and my successes and failures on the field definitely helped shape me into the person I am today. Lacrosse taught me the benefits of hard work and determination and showed me what a group of motivated individuals can accomplish.”

Same with politics.

“I had always loved learning about other cultures in my various high school classes, but that entry-level international relations class in college sparked my desire to combine international affairs and politics into a career,” said Brown, who graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in political science last year.

A three-week study-abroad trip to Argentina made her even more enthusiastic about finding an opportunity to marry her two potential career paths.

Brown used her Spanish language skills as an intern for the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Before the internship ended, Brown was thinking about her next step.

Rivera, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, was looking for staffers, and Brown came on board as a legislative correspondent.

She has focused on defense and immigration issues, but another of her passions is more personal.

“My brother is severely autistic, and I said that my first book would be about growing up with him,” Brown said. “He loves the water and would always play there and want us to go in to play in the waves with him. That was a happy thing.”

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