We are approaching Day 5 of pre-UK training and it’s finally beginning to sink in: less than one week till we touch down in London town and we cannot be more excited. Our days have been filled with two practice sessions and an education component in the middle to supplement our trip to the UK. Our daily schedule is not set, but it usually consists of a 10AM practice, 1:45 PM education and a 7PM practice. Sometimes our evening practices are substituted with a strength and conditioning session in the early afternoon, so we get more rest time for the following day. Our education lessons are taught by a 5th year Ph.D. student, Angela, who is absolutely amazing. She knows so much about England and the UK – her enthusiasm about the topic is definitely contagious!
On the field, we are looking strong and coming together as a team. After a semester abroad in Spain, it felt great to finally get back on the field with my teammates. The passes are crisp, the shots are stronger, and our chemistry off the field is evident in the way we play – it’s almost as if we can read each other’s mind and where we want the ball to go. If we’re looking like this now, I cannot wait for how we will be playing come September.
As the turf burns find their places below our knees and the blisters begin to form underneath our toes, we are subtly reminded that we are home again, not only on the field, but also as a team. I feel so incredibly blessed to not only be spending part of my summer training with them but also traveling abroad with them.
As most of you probably know, I really enjoy photography, but in terms of getting all 10,000 pictures to the masses, it’s a little harder. That’s why I decided to make some youtube videos chronicling our travels. So far I have three which you can check out below from our trip to Lisbon, Toledo and Brussels.
Every year the NYU Tisch Center honors all Sports Management, Hospitality and Tourism scholar students with over a 3.7 in the junior year by taking them on a research trip somewhere in the world. Last year the group ventured to London to study the upcoming Olympics, but this year they chose Barça. Luckily for me, my advisor, Billy, invited me and two of my fellow Sports Management classmates to dinner in Barcelona and I couldn’t pass up the offer – I had friends on the trip, couldn’t pass up a free dinner and had yet to travel to Barcelona.
Friday morning I awoke at 6 to catch the 8AM train to Barcelona. Everything was smooth sailing, until halfway through the trip we stopped on the tracks for an hour – talk about scary stuff. Granted, I was asleep the majority of the trip so the tardiness of the train didn’t really affect me. When we finally arrived at the Barcelona-Sants train station, I was lacking euros and the walk to the hotel didn’t seem too far (according to my iPhone) so I began my long day of walking. Six hours, two museums, two churches, and a lot of parks later, I made my way back to the hotel on Ramblas de Catalunya. For dinner we went to this cute Italian restaurant where I indulged in this delicious granna salad and pizza de cuatro queso sprinkled with raisins. It was great to be back in the realm of sports as I found myself discussing various issues in the athletic field today with my classmates. The group was accompanied by Billy, my advisor, and Bob Boland, our academic chair and truly one of the greatest professors I’ve met.
Although Perri and I had originally intended on going out, the rest of the group decided to stay in and catch some of the March Madness that was on because a) they had to be up at 6 and b)we’re sports fanatics. Hours later, 4AM to be exact, we retreated to bed only to wake up two hours later to say our goodbyes. Once the group left, I took to wandering the streets and found myself at the train station some hours later. Barcelona was stunning – great weather, tons of art, and very relaxed. I cannot wait to go back this weekend to see Camp Nou and the rest of the city.
To say that I’m “la princesa” of solo day trips might be an understatement – I feel like “la reina”. Maybe it’s because I don’t like staying in hostels by myself or maybe it’s just because I can feel like I can accomplish what I want in a single 24 hour period, but I’ve got the system down. Aside from the school sponsored trip to Segovia, I’ve embarked on two other días de aventuras – last weekend to Fallas in Valencia and this past weekend to Barçelona. Twas a whirlwind, por lo menos, but here’s a recap of one of the two viajes.
Before embarking on my adventures abroad, I met a good family friend, Caity Murphy, for lunch to hear her recommendations while living in Spain. Aside from becoming extremely excited over the
A Steve Jobs Falla
course of the meal, I took away one important tip from our conversation – Go to Valencia and experience Fallas. I was a bit hesitant at first, since I had originally planned on traveling to Ireland for St. Patrick’s day but I am so glad I ended up listening to Caity.
Las Fallas is essentially a large festival that shuts down the whole city for five days in celebration of the coming of Spring. It coincides with Father’s Day (Día de San Jose) and is from Friday to Tuesday, ending with burnings on Tuesday night. I’m not entirely sure how to completely describe the festival, but there’s hundreds of girls wearing thousand dollar dresses, fireworks all day long, lots of mojitos, and these giant fallas that they end up burning at the end of the week. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen in my life. Anyways, I was online and saw that BeMadrid offered a 20 Euro day trip to Valencia on Saturday, so I jumped at the change and signed up to hang with 700 of my closest friends. Though I did know some NYU folks on the trip, I felt “naked” and and alone for the first time since being here because my roommates were in London.
With a Fallera
An early wake up and a five hour bus ride later, I found myself surrounded by thousand of Valencianos, amidst what sounded like a battlefield. We had arrived precisely before las máscletas – the midday fireworks – began. My bones shook with each explosion and though the noise was deafening, I was on cloud nine. Afterwards, a group of us (somehow mostly comprised of BeMadrid tour guides) ended up walking to lunch. After a while of wandering, two girls and I broke off from the large group – Natascha from Cologne, Germany and Mikhalia from Iowa – and grabbed some tapas before the rest of our adventure.
Over the course of the day we walked miles, saw countless Fallas, and indulged in Valencian culture via paella, bañuelos and agua de valencia (a mix between a mimosa and screwdriver). When we grabbed dinner, we luckily found some wifi so I was able to contact Caity and tell her how
Guille and I at Bar Negrito
much fun I was having. What was intended to be a quick thank you, turned into her giving me directions to visit her old roommates at Bar Negrito and the start to one of my favorite nights in Spain. The crowded bar was jamming out to some old school nineties music and as soon as I walked in, I knew it was a cool place. I went up to the first bartender I could find, and asked if he knew Caity’s roommate. As luck would have it, he turned out to be her roommate and took care of the three of us the rest of the night – just goes to show how small this world really is. Guille was quite honestly the sweetest Spaniard I have met since being here, and definitely made my trip to Valencia one to remember.
Following Bar Negrito, the three of us headed to the other side of town to a space that BeMadrid had rented out. After a quick hour of dancing and running into other friends from Madrid, I joined two Spaniards to had out to watch the fireworks. Man, does Valencia love fire works. The whole light show was íncreible – it lasted 20 minutes and was unlike anything I had ever seen before. As soon as they ended, it was a race against the clock to get to the buses by two. Five hours later, I found myself waking up on the bus in front of Plaza de Las Ventas (where the Bull Fighting Stadium is). I dragged my weary body down the steps onto the metro back to Sol and was witness to one of the funniest sights of my life: the metro at 7 on a Sunday morning. Here in Madrid, the metro closes at 1 until 6 so most Madrileños stay out all night to catch the train home the next day, and it is an absolute mess/comedy show the following morning. By the time I reached my apartment, I could barely muster the strength and energy to put my pajamas on before passing out on the couch all day. Though I only went to one day of the festival, I had an amazing 24 hours at Fallas. My only regret is that I didn’t stay longer to see the burning of the constructions.
Estoy aquí! I arrived in one piece, barely awake, but nonetheless extremely excited to go out and conquer Madrid. In typical Megventure fashion, our plane arrived an hour late which set us back a few hours for everything else I did that day. After taking a shuttle to Terminal 1 to meet NYU, a large group of us boarded a coach bus headed into Sol where we then proceeded to catch a taxi to our apartments. I’m living with three other girls from NYU and absolutely love the place. It was definitely nerve racking signing a lease in a foreign language, but after going over it lentamente (slowly) in Spanish with our lovely landlady, Patricia Mateo, everything was smooth sailing from there.
Roomies
After unpacking we explored around Sol (the city center and where we live), and found La Puerta del Sol, La Plaza Mayor and a cute little café where we nibbled on some Café con leche y croissants (Coffee and Croissants). We then took to the metro and embarked on a NYU walking tour to smooth over the jetlag (which is thankfully currently nonexistent). Much to my amazement, the metro system in Spain is incredibly efficient, easy to navigate and super clean. We took la línea amarilla (Yellow Line) to Argüilles from Sol and walked down Calle Princesa to the Templo Debod which is a marvelous Egyptian Water Temple given to the Spaniards in 1968. After getting a panoramic view of West Madrid from the end of the Templo, a group of us living in Sol trekked back to our apartments but not before walking past the marvelous and extremely beautiful Palacio Real, the residence of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia. For being a pretty spread out, non-English speaking city, Madrid is extremely easy to navigate – on maps everything seems miles away but in reality, everything is really close to each other.
Sol
El Palacio Real
Later that evening the girls and some guys from Amherst decided to go out and see Sol some more, which turned out to be a complete fail, not because it was a Sunday night, but because it was too cold for Madrileños. This city just gets me, its unbelievable: not going out because its too cold, siestas, wine all day, tapas instead of full meals, and the laid back attitude of la gente (the people). It’s an absolute sueño (dream) to live here and I can already tell that I will not want to leave (lo siento Mom and Dad).
The following morning (Monday) we all had orientation at the NYU Madrid campus which is located off the Santiago Bernábeu (aka the Real Madrid Stadium) metro stop. I myself was incredibly happy when I found out that we get to pass it every morning, but I guess thats just the inner soccer fanatic within. Although the commute is rather long – a little less than an hour – I’m so glad we live in Sol because it’s really the center of it all for us. Orientation is similar to welcome week: you meet a bunch of people, go out, forget names, take placement tests, sit through lectures on being safe, etc. It’s very relaxed and a great setting to meet a ton of people.
After orientation, NYU sponsored a Paella lunch at cool restaurant called Muuuu north of school. Los Díos! The paella was absolutely amazing. I was apprehensive at first to try it because I didn’t know what was in it, but it was so good. Words don’t even begin to describe it. Though the paella was apparently the best in the city, I cannot wait to travel to the coast and try paella in Barçelona because I heard it is unreal there.
That night, a group of us decided to head out to Sol again, except this time it was a lot more fun! We wound up at a lovely tapas bar that is very popular with both Americans and Madrileños – El Tigre. They provide drinks and numerous tapas for only 6 Euros. Trying the tapas brought me back to my “Fear Factor Days” of living in Japan because we didn’t know what was on any of the plates, nor could the server, Alberto, explain to us what they were. I still probably couldn’t explain to you what they were, but my favorites were the pan y jamón and las patatas (bread and ham, and potatoes). The jamón is very different here, but is absolutely one of a kind. There are Museo’s de Jamón in almost every barrio (neighborhood), and the Spaniards are very proud of it. I don’t quite understand, but I’ll take it.
Patatas Bravas
Following El Tigre, we headed out again to this place called Joy Eslava located in Sol. It was great place to dance, the weird thing was that it was completely empty until about 3 or 4 in the morning. Madrileños have an extremely warped sense of time that will definitely take some time getting used to, but as a night owl I’m sure I’ll really love it.
That’s all for now, off to day two of Orientation. Hasta Luego!
Hey friends! Welcome to another Megventure! The countdown has officially begun for Madrid. Less than 12 hours until I plant my feet firmly on Spanish ground and begin my next world adventure. It is still incredibly surreal that I’ll be living in a foreign country for the next FIVE MONTHS – I’m sure when the jet lag catches up to me is when everything will hit me. Living abroad is nothing new to me, but exploring, adventuring, and forging a path on my own is incredibly fresh and novel to me – it makes me tremble in my boots (but just a little bit). The fact that I won’t be able to communicate fluently and that stores won’t be open 24/7 will provide just enough culture shock to settle me down.
I’m currently sitting in the Dallas-Fort Worth American Terminal nibbling on a banana, charging my iPhone (not that it’ll be of much use in Spain), jamming out to some music Phebe picked out for me, and typing my life away. This morning was an early one beginning at 0430 when American Airlines called to confirm my flight. Less than an hour later I was awoken by Bandit and Bear for the last time this break and made my way downstairs with my bags. I think everybody would be surprised to hear that I fit ALL of my clothes into a single suitcase and the rest of my shoes and toiletries into my NYU duffle. YES. You heard right, ONE SUITCASE. Let’s not recall the numerous times I have overpacked, but I think I deserve a crown or something for that. Unfortunately my reign as Packing Princess did not last long because as soon as I checked my bags I was told a) my suitcase was 4 pounds over and b) I did not have two free bags. Thankfully enough my bright eyed smile came to the rescue and the woman felt bad and upgraded my seat on my flight to Madrid (though I did have to pay for my bags).
No Idea How I Fit It All In There
After getting through security with a quick pat-down of my hair “because it’s beautifully poofy” (yes, the TSA agent really did say that), I made my way to my gate and promptly was asked by a soccer Mom if I really did play soccer (as if the soccer jacket and lovely thunder thighs didn’t give it away). We talked soccer for a long time, which always puts me in a good mood, then I boarded the plane where I sat next to a huge Everton fan. It was a quick two hour jaunt over to Dallas, where I quickly made my way to the Admirals Club. As soon as I sat down, a replay of a Liga game was on at the bar and two Barça fans were smoothly speaking Spanish – discussing Messi’s recent Balon D’Oro win (Go Barça!).
There’s really something about the beautiful game that makes it so unique – it transcends age, gender, race, everything. I can be anywhere in the world, and fútbol never ceases to find me. I am truly a lucky individual to not only be a student of the game as a player, but a fan, and hopefully a teacher of the game. To my amazement and incredibly disappointment I have heard from numerous sources that women’s soccer is not a commonality in Spain. I’m going to take this as my opportunity to make an impact and hopefully spread soccer to the female population because it has had such a definite and huge impact on my life.
Missing Them Already
I’m getting ready to eat some almuerzo (lunch) so I’ll finish here.
If anybody is in Spain or Europe for that matter, please do not hesitate to contact me – I’d love to meet up.
For more updates, check out my twitter @megpatten and my instagram @mpatten1
Palabra del Día (word of the day): Aventura – Adventure
Let it be known that I am not one to be late for anything. If you know anything about me, I’m sure you are well aware that I am never less than fifteen minutes early for anything. I would be considered what you call “OCD” when it comes to getting anywhere.
Yesterday, however, I did the unthinkable.
I MISSED MY FLIGHT. YUP, I MISSED MY FLIGHT.
Laugh all you want, but I promise that is the last time I ever leave two and half hours prior to my flight in Manhattan.
On the verge of tears
Nothing even begins to compare to that feeling in your stomach when everything turns to sh*t. The butterflies began when I walked downstairs at 3 o’clock to catch a cab to JFK. Unlike most days where I can just wave down a cab in 2.7 seconds flat (check out my holiday guide on catching a cab), it took 45 WHOLE MINUTES to get a cab to go the airport (and that was after the promise of a generous tip and a gleaming smile). As soon as I hopped into the cab, the butterflies subsided, but only for a minute, before I realized that getting out of Manhattan was going to be anything but easy. I proceeded to sit in traffic the rest of the way to airport for the remaining two hours – the worst part wasn’t the traffic or the $62 spent on the taxi or the unbearable smell of halal in the cab, just knowing that I wasn’t going to make it on time was enough to make my emotionless self cry.
In the two hour cab ride, I drained my fully charged iPhone to a trifling 17% bombarding a multitude of people with phone calls, texts and snapchats – American Airlines, my parents, the hockey team, and best friends – you name it, I messaged them.
Goodbye NY
Once I arrived to the terminal, the water works started. It had finally settled in. I was not going home that night. I don’t know who was more upset – the woman who tried her best to decipher my words between sobs or me. I called my Dad and before I knew it I was booked on the last SEAT out of NYC to San Diego until Saturday (thanks Dad, you rock!). I headed back into the city on a bus, more upset than anything and grabbed a cab back downtown to my awesome friend, Tim’s, apartment. Before I exited the cab, the driver made his best effort to remind me how upset and stubborn I was and then proceed to tell me I had the attitude of a cow from Calcutta – say what? Hey! I’ll take that as a compliment, thankyouverymuch.
Once I got to Timmy’s I hopped out of the cab, my emotional and physical baggage in tow, and landed him the biggest hug he’s ever gotten. He mostly stood there, began chuckling to himself, and lugged all of my suitcases upstairs. Once again you’re such a rock star Tim! Atop of his three-story-walkup was my amazing “mini-me”, Menta, waiting arms wide-open, with the greatest hug and consoling words a girl could ask for.
After a night filled with Ukrainian pirogues, potato pancakes, white pizza, lots of jokes on behalf of the hockey team and snuggling on the couch with Menta, I felt a lot better. I think that’s when you know you’ve found some quality pals – they’ll pick you off the ground, but not before they poke some fun at you first.
Headed Home
Today, I was a planner. I left Tim’s at 11:45 and was at JFK at 12:15 – isn’t it funny how things work out? I had told the cab driver my misfortune the day earlier and all he could do was laugh and say in his heavy Pakistani accent, “I hope you make your flight so you can share your laughter with your family.” It took me all of 25 minutes to get through check in and security. As some readers already know, I am not the best of packers, but I did get both of my bags under the restriction – one weighed in at 47 and the other at 49 – can I get a medal for that? Once through security I found myself in the Admiral’s Club, nomming away on a grilled cheese and chocolate milk and writing my Sports Law paper that was due a couple hours later. Right before my flight I made my way down to the gate, and to my great surprise I had found one of my NYU friends Grady at the gate. A little less than 30 seconds on the plane, and I spotted my neighbor Emily who was traveling back from Madrid and another Scrippy. Seriously, HOW SMALL IS THIS WORLD GOING TO GET?
Anyways, I’m four hours into this flight, counting down the seconds till I get back home. Two hours, one minute and fifty three seconds. Fifty two. Fifty one. Fifty. You get the point.
Knowing my Dad, I am sure I’ll be getting my fair share of “I told you so’s” in the next couple of days, but there are many things I learned from this. First of all, my friends are awesome –I dare your friends to be cooler/more supportive/ understanding/ funnier/ compassionate/caring! From Katie and Alex putting up with my storage issues to Menta hearing all of my venting to Tim who let me crash and invade his bachelor’s pad – all four of them were such a huge support system in this huge mess (and on the daily). Second of all, I need to learn how to breathe. I’m usually pretty good at handling stress, but the stress of letting somebody down is probably the one thing that bothers me the most. The last and important thing I learned (from my Dad) is that the last mile is the most important one. Whether I’m running a marathon or trying to catch my flight back home, you better bet your bottom dollar that I will (for now on) make sure I am doing everything I can to make it happen – until I cross the finish line or get my California burrito.
If you were to log into my Facebook the past couple of weeks, you’d be inundated with statuses about some of my friends making the NCAA tournament, photos of various college teams, and check-ins to airports across the airport. Last night I received multiple Snapchats from my parents and sister about the Final Four tournament in San Diego, where Penn State beat FSU and UNC defeated Stanford. To say that I was a little bit depressed last night would be an understatement. It was tough for me to see these teams still playing, seeing their dream still alive. What made it worse, however, was hearing that Emory made it into the DIII National Championships (which will be played tonight at 6:30). They will be facing Messiah whom they beat earlier this season. Emory comes into the National Championship game with a 15-1-7 record – their only loss coming from us, while Messiah comes in with 22-1-1 record – their only loss to Emory. Though it is difficult (to say the least) to watch these teams battle each other for the national championship, I can (and do) take pride in the fact that we beat Emory this year, so I hope they win.
Moving on… Next season has already been deemed the redemption season. There is nothing more in the world that I want than to go onto the NCAA tournament and just go out and win it.
Our coach recently sent us an email following the end of the season. She often sends us quotes or stories, but this one invoked feelings when evaluating our season. It just spoke to me
Simon Hartley who wrote “Be World Class” was published in the NSCAA Publication “The Soccer Journal”.
When I see tough players, fists aren’t banging. In fact, the toughest players I’ve seen tend not to be physically or verbally intimidating. Maybe they don’t need to be. Instead, the players who show true mental toughness tend to display three distinct qualities.
1. RESILIENCE:
Commonly seen as “bounce-back-ability” and the capacity to thrive in adverse situations.
2. TENACITY:
The ability to keep going and push to the limit.
3. COMPOSURE:
The ability to make good decisions and execute skills to a very high standard, while “under pressure.”
For those fellow soccer players and athletes out there, I hope this excerpt proves as inspiring and eye opening to you as it did for me. My goals for next year include being a mentally tough player as defined above.For the non-athletes, I hope this sheds some light into the mental aspect of athletics which is a large part of my soccer career – especially as a goalkeeper.
Happy belated Turkey Day! I hope everybody had a marvelous time with all of their friends and family – and for those who were serving overseas – I owe you a great thanks. With the Thanksgiving holiday behind us, I decided it would be best to write about everything in my life that I’m thankful for. The list is numerous so I’m just going to touch upon my top three 🙂
1. Family – It’s a given, but I know I wouldn’t be here today without all of their help. I am so lucky to not only have my Patten/Sachen family but also the Staab family who has taken me in the past couple of years. Not only have Pete and Nani included me in their lives but have introduced me to their extended family who take me in over the holidays. I am eternally blessed to be their “second daughter” and “sister from another mister” (as Sam likes to call it).
Pattens and Staabs (minus Petey and Pete)
2. Soccer – The sport has not only provided me with numerous opportunities, a circle of life long friends (shout out to all current and former teammates) whom I can call upon for anything and everything, but it also has provided me an outlet for anger, creativity, and frustration. My all time favorite passion keeps me sane despite sometimes being the root of my insanity (if that makes any sense).
What’s Your Excuse?
3. Freedom and Opportunity – Maybe it’s the little patriot in me or even my military background, but I am and will be forever thankful for all the freedom and opportunity I have been afforded. Myself, and so many others would not be able to do the things we love without the dedication and service of current and past armed forces (huge shut out to our Military). I know that I for one wouldn’t be in NYC or NYU without my parent’s help and I wouldn’t be able to freely write and express my opinion if it weren’t for the protectors of our freedom – so Amen to that!
Hope everybody had a safe and yummy Thanksgiving! Check out this video of some NYU athletes thanking our parents for everything!
Hey Everybody – sorry for not posting lately! I‘ve found myself to be busier than I ever thought possible – I’m literally running from class to work to practice and back to class all the time. It’s crazy to think that it has already been three weeks since the first day of school and that league play begin this weekend, but at the same time it’s great to feel like I’m slipping back into a normal routine (if you even consider my life normal!) In the past three weeks alone, our team has gone 6-2, I have made some considerable progress on my “20 Things to Do Before I’m 20” list, and I’ve found time to get a decent amount of sleep (yay!). Today’s post will mostly be an update on everything so far and a funny story or two 🙂
The Beginning of Foodie Friday (please ignore the massive white spaces)
First and foremost, I would like to say that bananas are so delicious – I do not know how I have lasted through sports so long without them! Anyways, I can finally cross off # 2, 12 14, and 15 off my twenties bucket list – four down, sixteen more to go! So far this year I’ve been cooking a ton – pretty much every single meal and have yet to burn down my room- which is an accomplishment in itself. My favorite meal so far is Amelia’s Balsamic Chicken and Asparagus Penne Pasta with fresh parmesan – it’s super easy and I’ll post the recipe soon. Another reason I’ve been cooking a lot (and learning) is because Foodie Friday has become a “thing”. It’s great to know that my friends look forward to coming over, cooking together and just catching up – it’s a great bonding experience for us as a team. This past Friday we also initiated a quote wall and a poster that lists the words that NYUWS makes up – I’m sure we’ll cover the whole wall by the end of the season!
Submit a piece or photograph to a major publication and get it published
Start a Tradition – Foodie Friday is really taking off – people have come to expect it now!
Break a Record
Withhold Myself From Shopping (But For Only One Month) – Current streak is five weeks 🙂
Try Bananas, Mushrooms, or Yogurt (Or all three) – Bananas are yummy. Up next: Yogurt!
Fly
Visit Ellis Island and Look For Any Relatives
Watch a live surgery
Get Scuba Qualified
Make an Impact
Aside from trying new food and withholding myself from shopping, I’ve also had my fair share of “Meg Moments”. Just the other morning I was headed to my internship, walking across Union Square towards 14th St., when all of a sudden a homeless man comes running up to me, stomps on my sandal-clad foot and runs away. I am not kidding. But really, who the heck does this?
Cooking!
Going Bananas!
In other news, I applied to study abroad Madrid on a whim, we’ll see if anything happens. I would love to go but I love New York City so much – I would be absolutely torn. I’ll know if I got in by Oct. 1st! Oh yeah, and our team is going abroad in August… wait for it… Yes, London, England, as in my birth place. I am beyond excited! When I found out, I was in the ice bath and started splashing everything around me – one of my finer moments if you ask me.
Ar and I are super excited
Speaking of soccer, we’re headed to Cleveland this weekend to play Case Western. It should be a great game and you follow the stats online 🙂 Oh and here’s an update and excerpt from my NYU Blog which can be found here:
“At the beginning of the year, our coach quoted Paul Elrich “The fluttering of a butterfly’s wings can effect climate changes on the other side of the planet,” which explained to us that everything we do is connected and influences everything else we do as a result, either directly or indirectly. Now that we’re a few games into the season, it’s amazing to see everything starting to come full circle since our first day…
I keep finding myself spotting butterflies everywhere I go, and thinking about how just the slightest flap of the wing can change the weather in South America. The same holds true for this season, and for years to come – every ounce of sweat we put in now will affect us down the road, hundreds of miles away at a UAA game.”
I’ll end on that but I hope everybody has a fantastic rest of their week 🙂 Until next time!
