Since I have been in Northern Ireland, I have unfortunately had some bad luck with injuries. The first injury I had was on the third day of arriving in Belfast. All of the Victory Scholars were playing pick-up basketball and I caught an elbow from a scholar who shall not be named (rhymes with Tanner Brooks). It split open a spot on my eyebrow and caused me to get it glued. I now have a sweet scar from it. My second injury worth noting is when I hyper extended my elbow and now have to where a compression brace. My third injury happened most recently, where I rolled my ankle.
I don’t choose to talk about my injuries for my blog to gross anyone out or depress them. I want to talk about them because they have helped me realize something. While I have not missed any significant time due to my injuries I have still missed a few training sessions here and there. As many athletes know, you often feel useless having to sit on the sideline while everyone else plays. Since I have been here I have taken on a much bigger role within my team than I did in college. While I couldn’t play at times I still had to be encouraging of my team and offer ways for them to improve without being out there on the court. In essence, I took on the role of a coach while I was out. I had to be there for my team through their own frustrations and mistakes and give them alternative ways to fixing their issues. These struggles have found their own way to making me a stronger person and teammate while I am here as a Victory Scholar. To me, this is what being a Victory Scholar is all about. #PartOfTheProcess