Should I stay or should I go?

When I went home last Christmas I can remember discussing with my parents how I wasn’t going back to Richmond for a third year. I told them I’d just had enough and I wanted to come home and start in UL that following September. I even went as far as applying for a course through the CAO, I was that serious about it. I had planned on going back in January and explaining to the management and team that I felt as though it was my time to go back home and start into college there.

Within the first two weeks of returning, I doubted myself. I was questioning the decision I had made in my own mind. I was slowly but surely realising I truly wanted to stay on for the full four years and experience two more seasons. I have really become part of the team in Richmond – I couldn’t imagine standing in front of them all and telling them that I was leaving for good. After the heartbreak of losing in the fashion that we did this past season, I have unfinished business with Richmond. I want two more championships to add to the one we achieved in my freshman year. I love all the teams I’ve been fortunate enough to be apart of back home and am grateful for all they gave me so far – be they school, club, province and international. But Richmond is my team now and I have really bought into our team culture over there so I am totally committed to achieving all I know we can over the course of the coming two years. While a lot of international student-athletes only go for one year, I personally couldn’t leave after one. I have the utmost respect for any girl who gives this opportunity a real go for a year and decides it’s simply just not for them, because I honestly believe this opportunity isn’t for everyone. But, it is for me. [pullquote align=”right”]”I have really become part of the team in Richmond – I couldn’t imagine standing in front of them all and telling them that I was leaving for good”[/pullquote] That’s not to say there haven’t been days where I’ve doubted it all and craved home a bit, but those days are a tiny minority in comparison to all the great days I have had in America and, most importantly, all the friendships I have made. Two weeks ago, two of my team-mates came over to spend a fortnight in Ireland. I am absolutely delighted when any of my American team-mates or their families tell me that they are coming to Ireland because it gives me and my family an opportunity to try and repay them for all they have done for me by either housing, feeding or transporting them. Needless to say, we had great craic with the two Americans and I think they really enjoyed all this small island had to offer!

So, with all this in mind, I did the research on a psychology degree from the University of Richmond being recognised back in Ireland and found out it would be, and decided that I was going to come back for the two final years. From where I’m standing now, I am happy with my decision. When I got an academic waiver in spring of my freshman year, it essentially meant that I dropped out of that semester of college, meaning that I have to play catch-up somewhere between now and the end of my college career which will hopefully be in two years’ time. This means that summer is when I take classes. I’m doing two of them online from home this summer and I’ll most likely stay in the USA next summer to do two more. I will spend a total of 10 weeks this summer completing these classes online. This includes daily readings and blog entries, with a few assignments and exams thrown in for good measure. It’s not ideal when the majority of my friends are either off on J1s in America or working to earn money to go on holidays at some stage. I am taking these classes in an attempt to graduate on time with the rest of my grade, and not have to spend an extra semester more than everyone else in UR. But I know if I end up graduating on time, I will be able to look back on these days and be glad of the sacrifices I’ve made.