August 21st, 2014 | Uncategorized
After saying goodbye to my parents and friends at the airport back in NC, I checked into my flight and looked over to the console next to me to see none other than Patrick Ewing! The NBA legend was standing right next to me, checking into his own flight. I took it as a sign for great things to come!
Fresh off the plane from Charlotte, NC, I arrived in the Dublin airport around 3 am EST.. but 8 am in Dublin. Needless to say, the jetlag for the first day was a tough thing to handle at first, but the opportunity to see my new home helped me stay awake for the day! After picking up 7 more of the scholars at the airport, we headed up to Belfast to meet with the rest of the team. And I have to say.. it’s going to take me awhile to get used to riding in a car on the opposite side of the road! We’re currently staying at the University of Ulster Jordanstown for our week of training, and have really started to bond as a group. Through the first couple days of training, we’ve done loads of team activities, games and strategies to help us with coaching, learned more about the local community by visiting the Peace Wall, and participated in our first EHOOPS session. We even had a chance to visit the Maguire’s home and share a “wee bit” of their wi-fi!
One of the highlights of my first couple days has to be trying to explain where North Carolina is back in the US. On one occasion I tried to use Michael Jordan as a reference to North Carolina (since everyone obviously knows MJ) to one of the EHOOPERS, but as soon as he heard MJ’s name, he responded, “near the Chicago Bulls?!?!” Not quite.. but close enough!
I’m so excited to get the year started with SCL and begin the rest of my adventures as a Victory Scholar!
