The air has become colder, the sun spends less time in view, and the leaves that were once vibrant dynamic colors are now littering the ground. As the transition from autumn to winter is in full swing, the holiday season encroaches. The first of this season, Thanksgiving, serves as something besides the official start of Christmas season, it is a time for family and reconnection. This year, I obviously was not able to make it back to my family in the New York, but this is not a new phenomenon for me, as a college athlete I only made it home once during my four years of enrollment. Those who are able to go home to family often say things like “oh you poor thing, sorry you have to spend this holiday alone.” However what they fail to realize is that you are never alone, holidays or otherwise. In past years my scheduling conflicts around Thanksgiving, while frustrating, allowed me to create new experiences and connections with others in a similar predicament. This year was no different. Whether 2 hours or 2000 miles away from home one thing remains, I was away from my family yet again for the holiday. This time however was special because instead of family I was able to reunite with the other 22 Victory Scholars and SCL staff in Belfast. We met at the SCL office and caught up over tea and snacks. Phrases like “How you been?” and “That looked like it was so much fun” were buzzing around the room as everyone exchanged hugs and pleasantries. The next 48 hours would be filled with more conversation, relationship building and new shared experiences (more to come on this). It was nice to see everyone reconnecting and leaning on one another in a time where we miss our families. While being back in New York would have been great, it was nice looking around a room of new, yet familiar faces and knowing that I was not alone, in fact I had plenty of family to celebrate this holiday with.
