As I am nearly halfway through my time in Ireland, I want to briefly update you on some of my experiences so far. To begin, let me start off by saying that I was finally able to receive my student visa in order to stay for the remainder of the year. Yesterday was my fourth attempt at queueing at the Garda Station, and it was a relief that they were accepting walk-ins since no one came for their scheduled appointments. Despite waiting for four hours, I successfully made it to the visa window and had my passport stamped. This whole process has been rather difficult, but I had some great conversations with people from all over the world while waiting in line. To me, it is always important to find the positives in situations that most people would consider negative. If there are obstacles out of your control, embrace them and put a smile on your face!
Coaching the U18 Neptune team has been a great experience so far. There is nothing more rewarding than seeing the team progress week after week. However, I finally understand the immense amount of work that goes into planning each practice. It takes a lot of reflection after games to implement beneficial drills for your players. S/O to all of my previous coaches who spent countless hours ensuring proper drills were conducted that focused on our weaknesses. Our team is currently 3-1, with a big second-round cup game tomorrow!
In the Superleague, our team is currently 6-2 and tied at the top of the tables with two other clubs. We have a big game tomorrow against the Belfast Star, in which my parents will have the opportunity to watch their first game in-person. We have some exciting adventures planned for the week as well, so make sure you keep following my blogs, as I will have plenty of content to discuss in the next post!
P.S. The castle above is CIT’s Blackrock Observatory, a very neat planetarium that I visited a couple of weeks ago.
