Happy Easter everyone! Easter has always been one of my favorite holidays for a few reasons. My birthday is right around the corner, it’s a perfect excuse to eat chocolate, and I am a dork and still love a good old -fashioned egg hunt. Easter is also a personal favorite because it reminds me a lot of Thanksgiving. Back home, every Easter, my family goes to mass, followed by an egg hunt, and then we have my dad, Larry’s world famous French Toast! Easter is always a time where I am excited for warmer weather ahead and a time where I reflect on everything I am thankful for, so today I wanted to write out 5 things I am thankful for this Easter.
I have been surprisingly home sick the past couple weeks. Although I have been having the time of my life in Ireland and traveling the world, I am extremely close with my family. Despite the fact that there are so many of us, I am in contact with my family via our family group chat called the “Sureloins” everyday. Seeing pictures and videos of my nieces and nephew bring smiles to my face, but also make me wish I could be there enjoying all of these moments in person. Most of the other scholars are heading home at the end of May, but I decided in December I would be staying till mid –July to travel so I have about 4 months till I see my family. However, how lucky am I to have such an amazing family and be so close with them. I know they would never want me to pass up an opportunity to travel the world. In the meantime, I have already started the countdown until I meet my whole family at the beach in July!
I am incredibly grateful to Sport Changes Life for giving me one of the most unforgettable years of my life. It still seems surreal that I get to play basketball, coach youth, travel the world, and get my masters paid for. Almost seems too good be true! Even through the ups and downs, this year has been life changing and incredible in everyway possible. I’ve learned so much about others and even more about myself. I will forever be thankful to this program and the staff for creating such an amazing opportunity for me.
When I left college, I was brokenhearted. I was devastated to give up the game of basketball, the game that hands down has saved my life. I felt so lost, and I wanted to play overseas, but my college head coach destroyed a lot of the love I had for the game. The way she treated me for the three years I had her eventually just led to me hating the game, it felt like a job, and I just wanted to put it in the past. However, as my year out of college began, I felt like a part of me was missing. Getting the opportunity to play overseas has been amazing, and most importantly FUN. Between my coaches and teammates on both my national league team and college team and winning an All-Ireland Championship- I have fallen back in love with the game. After such a fun season, I can finally say that I can walk away from the game content, knowing that it has given me so much. Unlike last year, I can walk away from basketball on a high note, with the same love I had for the game when I was a little girl. With a few games left, it’s going to be a bittersweet goodbye, but I am so thankful to have fallen in love with it again.
These are the other 23 Americans doing the program besides me. It is crazy because we were all strangers who met for 10 days in Belfast for orientation and then we all went our separate ways. I don’t even get to see majority of these people on a regular basis, however, when I do get to see them, it’s always a great time. The part I think I am most thankful with them is the support we all give each other virtually, even though we are all rarely together. The other day on my 24-hour journey to Greece for spring break- I spent the whole journey pretty much being a creep and reading all of the other scholar’s blogs. These blogs were so good and some of them even brought tears to my eyes. I think it is so cool that we can all share our different stories through our blogs and somehow connect to one another. What I have learned from these people is that we are all fighting our own battles, but we aren’t alone. I remember when I posted my most personal blog, how many scholars reached out to me and gave me support. It was so encouraging because I was legit so terrified to share my story with anyone. The amount of the support and fun that this group has is awesome and I am so thankful to have met these people. See you all this weekend at Varsities!
Oh my gosh, this spring break I was able to get a few days of SUN. Yep, you heard that right! I absolutely love Ireland, but the sun rarely shines up in Letterkenny. I am such a beach person and love sitting in the sun. Even if the sun shines for a few minutes, I feel myself becoming instantly happier. There is nothing better than being warm, wearing shorts and a tee shirt, rocking shades, and laying in the sun. They say you never appreciate what you have till it’s gone, and that is so true for the sun. With this, I know summer is right around the corner and I can’t wait to be in the sun everyday.
