Some thoughts about the fact that I’m going to the Olympics

So the fact that in a few days I’m going to Vancouver is still blowing my mind. The idea that a shy, insecure kid from a rural town in Pennsylvania is going to the Olympics is so incredible that I still can’t figure it out. The most I can chalk it up to is a lot of luck and an incredible amount of support and love from the people around me. Thinking about all of this has also made me appreciate how everything in my life is connected by that luck and those people in a crazy, amazing chain of moments and experiences.

Without my parents taking me to pretty much every North Pocono athletic event that was held, I don’t have the high school sports journalism career that I had. Without that, I don’t get the Park Scholarship. Without the Park Scholarship, I don’t go to Ithaca. If I don’t go to Ithaca, I don’t even get a chance to apply for the NBC Olympic program. If I don’t go to Ithaca, I don’t meet one of my best friends who herself went to the Winter Olympics in 2006. Without her stories of the Games, her constant support and advice, I don’t even get close to Vancouver.

If I don’t go to Ithaca, I don’t study abroad in London my sophomore year. I don’t get the chance to intern at the Times, to travel to Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, to see Chelsea and Manchester United, to meet amazing people, see incredible things, and develop a sense of independence and confidence that I never knew I possessed. Without my sports journalism experience, without the Times, I don’t get an internship with USA Volleyball. I don’t get the chance to live at the Olympic Training Center with Olympic athletes, many of whom will be competing in Vancouver. I don’t get the chance to take the leap of faith of moving across the country to live and work with people I’ve never met before and work at a job that was as fulfilling as it was challenging. Without all of these experiences, I don’t become the person that I am today.

So I guess the reason I’m finding it so hard to believe that I’m going to the Olympics, is because I don’t think it should be just me going. I am the product of so many people who have pushed me, guided me, molded me, loved me and deserve just as much as I do to be hopping on a plane to Vancouver. All of my friends from Ithaca and Colorado, my colleagues at USA Volleyball and the Times, my teachers from North Pocono and professors from Ithaca, and especially my parents. Especially my parents. Because if it wasn’t for them, driving me across the country and following me around the world, I probably would still be that shy insecure kid from Pennsylvania.

Honestly, I’m terrified about going to the Olympics. I’m nervous, intimidated, scared. But, I’m ready. I’m ready to take that leap of faith again, just like I did in Ithaca, in London and in Colorado, with the promise that as scary as that leap is, there will be people and experiences on the other end that make it so worthwhile. Because that is what the people in my life have taught me.

So, to everyone that has had an impact on my life to this point, thanks. And even though you can’t be with me in Vancouver, you’ll be in my heart.