This post has obviously been long in coming but it's one that i have been thinking about for quite some time. My perspective on things has inevitably changed soemwhat since graduation as I look back on my "life in foreign" and how i've developed as a person, my likes, dislikes, skill set, aspirations. Moving from Vermont to South Dakota (god bless those people) to Connecticut. Getting into coaching. The most striking thing for me is noticing how i have managed to let go of things that , previously, I would have felt set me back when compared to others; things I would have tried to keep to myself, or even those which i felt may reflect badly on my own character. I got here playing football and these revelations I must owe to football as well (coaching included). To think the girl who used to play football with the fellas in aranguez savannah went abroad to play on scholarship, completed her MBA, and is a decent coach on the side is a nice little story....
Reflecting on how how far I have come, places i've been to, people i have met, the wonderful friends i have made, I realise life is so much about what you make of yourself, your ability to keep moving forward, and to let go of hang-ups. People won't judge you for things you can't control, or for your past, or having a different background if you are positive, give your best, and show good character. I remember times back home when we were really scraping through at the end of the month; I would no longer be ashamed to share that. Here I am coaching kids who live in 6-bedroom houses with a couple acres of backyard and a pool, they care that i have developed myself in the field and am a good coach to them here now. It would be quite a change of environment and culture shock but I would love to bring some of my european friends on a visit so they could see where i grew up, on a street without a sidewalk and with cows at one end and the field where i learned to play at the other (especially after having visited some of them in their well-coiffed neighbourhoods hehehe)
I also realise that in my case I have been fortunate for people to get to know me in a vacuum so to speak, because people do judge you. No I wasnt about to write a blind, feel-good post. I've experienced the side glances some coloured folks still get, the impression people have about west indians being backward, about my accent, the education system, the annoying caribbean people and wannabe's who create a less-than-savoury stereotype. So anyways, the vacuum: I've had the chance to have people get to know me for me and what I was able to share with them about Trinidad, without too much negative influence. And the many people i've met who know another trinidadian have only had good things to say. I suppose we might be a rare species, us Trinis, I wont call names of other islands hehehe
So five weeks of summer coaching over with now and I cant wait for Fall season to start. I have people asking for advice about their game, about their playing future, I have kids who I coached in the past running up to me, happy to see me. Its the best feeling ever.
Here's to the next chapter!!
Till nex time...
(i'll try to get back to more regular posts now)
Reflecting on how how far I have come, places i've been to, people i have met, the wonderful friends i have made, I realise life is so much about what you make of yourself, your ability to keep moving forward, and to let go of hang-ups. People won't judge you for things you can't control, or for your past, or having a different background if you are positive, give your best, and show good character. I remember times back home when we were really scraping through at the end of the month; I would no longer be ashamed to share that. Here I am coaching kids who live in 6-bedroom houses with a couple acres of backyard and a pool, they care that i have developed myself in the field and am a good coach to them here now. It would be quite a change of environment and culture shock but I would love to bring some of my european friends on a visit so they could see where i grew up, on a street without a sidewalk and with cows at one end and the field where i learned to play at the other (especially after having visited some of them in their well-coiffed neighbourhoods hehehe)
I also realise that in my case I have been fortunate for people to get to know me in a vacuum so to speak, because people do judge you. No I wasnt about to write a blind, feel-good post. I've experienced the side glances some coloured folks still get, the impression people have about west indians being backward, about my accent, the education system, the annoying caribbean people and wannabe's who create a less-than-savoury stereotype. So anyways, the vacuum: I've had the chance to have people get to know me for me and what I was able to share with them about Trinidad, without too much negative influence. And the many people i've met who know another trinidadian have only had good things to say. I suppose we might be a rare species, us Trinis, I wont call names of other islands hehehe
So five weeks of summer coaching over with now and I cant wait for Fall season to start. I have people asking for advice about their game, about their playing future, I have kids who I coached in the past running up to me, happy to see me. Its the best feeling ever.
Here's to the next chapter!!
Till nex time...
(i'll try to get back to more regular posts now)
