Moving to another country for 9 months on your own is not something that everyone would be inclined to do. When applying to be a Victory Scholar, I was a little nervous about being in another country with people I had never met before. I tend to be quiet and shy until I really get to know people and become comfortable with them. In unfamiliar situations, I become nervous and uneasy. When I accepted the Victory Scholarship, I felt mixed emotions. The thought of being away from my friends and family for longer than I had ever been, moving to another country where my surroundings would be unfamiliar, and having to meet all new people made me very nervous and anxious for this experience. Some could say that going to college is similar but I think this is taking a step further. When you go to college and play a sport, as all the victory Scholars did, your teammates become your best friends on day one. Stepping onto the campus at Saint Peter’s my freshman year, I met all of my teammates that would become my best friends for four years. I was only a three hour drive away from my hometown where I could easily visit my family and friends. My parents attended all of my basketball games throughout my four years so I was able to see them frequently.
Coming to Ireland for nine months was definitely stepping out of my comfort zone. I am extremely thankful that I was offered the opportunity to be a Victory Scholar. Having this experience has helped me to become more independent, confident, and helped me to learn a lot about myself. On August 24th, 2018, I flew to Ireland with 33 other unfamiliar faces. I was able to interact with the other scholars throughout the first week in Ireland but then we all had to disperse to our universities throughout the country. This was very different from college. We all became friends the first week and then would not see each other again for a while. When arriving in Waterford, with only two familiar faces (Ellen and Dan whom I had just met the week before), I had to try to step out of my comfort zone once again. My teammates were very welcoming along with the rest of the Wildcats community. However, I would only see my teammates a few times a week for two hours at practice unless we hung out on the weekends outside of basketball. They all have busy lives, most of them working full time jobs. This was new to me because I was used to hanging out with my college teammates 24/7. Little by little we all started to hangout more on the weekends and during our free time. After a month or so I was well adjusted to living in another country away from my family and friends and realized it wasn’t as scary as it may have seemed. I’m extremely glad that I took this big step out of my comfort zone and moved to Ireland to be a Victory Scholar. It is an experience I will never forget!