Hi everyone and welcome to my blog for this year’s journey as a Victory Scholar! Here I will be writing about my personal experiences while working with Sport Changes Life in hopes to give you a glimpse of what my life entails across the pond.
Before I begin, I want to acknowledge all of those who have made this next year in Ireland possible. Thank you to my wonderful parents, family and friends, both at home and at Holy Cross, for assuring me that this opportunity was cooler than immediately starting my “career in a real job” (really beginning to question why it took any reassurance) and of course to Sport Changes Life, the Rory Foundation, and Aer Lingus for enabling it to happen. I look forward to this year ahead.
It’s been close to an entire month (wow, hard to believe) since my arrival to Ireland. These past few weeks have been somewhat of a whirlwind-of all good things, of course. Training in Belfast further introduced us to the main purpose of Sport Changes life through eHOOPS sessions and community engagement activities with young people, enabled us to explore The Giant’s Causeway and listen to personal stories from staff members and scholars reflecting the impact sport has made in their lives, and included a little bit of introductory paperwork. The Sport Changes Life staff welcomed myself and the 33 other scholars like family and it was, as cheesy as this sounds, the perfect start to what has thus far been an incredible journey. Shout out the Maguire family for the lovely home cooked meal during training week.
Upon hopping off the bus in Cork (well dragging multiple, overweight suitcases off the bus in somewhat of a sweat) three weeks ago, Justus and I were immediately greeted by our club chairs as a welcome to the Cork community. For me personally, I had the privilege of being embraced by former HC teammate, Victory Scholar, and great friend, Maddy Ganser, right on the River Lee. (Imagine being welcomed curbside in a new city, in a new country, by one of your besties…yeahhhh I was a bit teary eyed too.) This will forever be one of my first, and a favorite, memory of Cork.
Since settling into this new city, Justus and I have been able to explore quite a bit. We have done our best to experience Cork’s main attractions, from reputable restaurants and breweries to historic landmarks and beaches. I must admit, The Irish Sea exceeded my expectations… in more than just temperature and salt content. Ireland and its people have treated us well, to say the least.
HOWEVER, it hasn’t entirely been alllll sunshine and rainbows in Cork for Justus and I (although the weather has been quite nice). We have certainly had our fair share of hiccups acclimating to our life over here… like navigating in a new city on our own without working cell phones…and asking numerous people for directions many times, to simply go the wrong way… Or finding cheap specials (#BallinOnABudget) at local restaurants only to realize that the special doesn’t run on the day you’ve chosen to go. And of course taking the city bus over an hour in the wrong direction. And now that the first week of college has begun with basketball training and coaching picking up, more unfamiliarity has come into play. In short, let’s just say that being in a class of 13 that consists of individuals from America, Brazil, Chile, China, France, India, Ireland, Malaysia, Poland, and ensuring I get the names right of the girls on my Brunell u12 team in which we have not 1, but two sets of identical twins, the element of being an international student-athlete-coach is definitely apparent. (still trying to get used to not raising my hand in class to speak and pronouncing names correctly…fyi “Niamh” doesn’t = Nye AMPH)
Despite this, there’s still a lot that keeps me grounded and somewhat comfortable in this new territory. It’s things like learning that my assistant coach has attended weddings in my home town of Scranton, PA, (at the same venue my oldest sister, Eileen, was married) or having lunch with a member of CITs Sport staff, or the comfort of Ann, and Maddy taking me under their wing (thanks for the hospitality and care)… or maybe it’s just the infectious energy that surrounds the sport of basketball in Cork and the banter that accompanies it that enables me to feel somewhat at home here. While I’m not sure what exactly it is, I do know that for each, I am grateful.
Going forward, I know that the biggest challenges are yet to come, and fulfilling my role as an impactful Victory Scholar will be at the forefront of my mind. But it’s the challenges like this, in which the opportunity to learn and grow and make a difference is constantly present, that I hope to thrive on.
Put simply by my lecturer in week one of college:
“Ye will be turned upside down, and inside out, but ye make it out better on the other end because of it.”
Until next time…
Cheers!
