I understand the question now, which when I made the decision just seemed so obvious to me. Nevertheless, picture this, the summer of 2005, there I was newly graduated, degree in hand from a very prestigious university, and what did I do – graduate school, cooperate job, family/kids, nope, sorry mom!
I did not mirror those around, my decision was contrary to what people around me believed in, but I saw an opportunity and I just had to take it and see what would happen. One of my greatest friends and supporters, Dean Fred (retired Dean of Admissions from Princeton) taught me never to underestimate the power of serendipity. With that, this decision became the turning point in my athletic career!
Three months prior to moving to Holland, to be honest the idea never even crossed my mind. However, the story starts a few years before that moment. In the summer of 1998, I had made my second national team as a heptathlete and travelled with Athletics Canada to Holland to compete in the Dutch Heptathlon/Decathlon Championships. The trip lasted a week and what made it special was that instead of staying in a hotel for that amount of time, we were placed with host families. I repeated this trip in the summer of 1999, 2000 and 2002.
In 1999, I was competing in the city of Assen, in the north of Holland. I stayed in the village of Zeijen with the Strijker family and after just a week I had fallen in love with each one of them. We stayed in touch, and I made every effort to return to visit each year and spend time with them after that.
(Left to Right: Eline, Jeroen, Jan, Alida, Annemiek Strijker, and Me)My athletic career during my four years at Princeton was always a struggle at best. When I graduated in 2004, I started to think about what it was going to take to get my goals back on track (pun intended!). I worked with a former coach to redevelop some lost technique, and found myself back in Holland in 2005 for a small heptathlon competition to see if I still had potential. With the support of the Strijkers, I competed in the Open North Dutch Championships and it was here I met Bart Bennema, my current coach!
Bart is a talkative fellow and always looking to learn new things. We had a mini conversation at the completion of the heptathlon and he was asking about coaching techniques and theories I had experienced. In a follow up conversation, I was mentioning to Bart that I was looking to start fresh, to train fulltime and see what I could accomplish as an athlete. As a joke, Bart said I should move to Holland and he would train me. Well the joke was on him, because I gave that serious thought, looked into what was required to get a Visa to live in Holland and three short months later, I showed up in Holland eager to start working.
At that moment, I had taken the first step in the right direction. Now here we are working at our fourth year together, and still going strong!
Your athlete,
Susan
Susan,
ReplyDeleteHi! It's Lisa Noble. I'm the French teacher here at Queen Mary, and also one of the "techies" on staff. I have managed to set up a gmail account for the school, and so you should be hearing more from us soon. The students have really been enjoying your posts, and you might be interested to know that we're also looking at your writing style (for instance "patience, young Jedi" was a great way to look at inference - what were you referring to, and how did it tie into what you were writing about!)
We'll try and make sure that the classes identify themselves as they're writing to you. I have some long jumpers who are VERY interested in your technique, having seen the slideshow, and you should be getting some interesting questions.
Thanks so much for the effort you're putting into this - hopefully, it will turn into more of a two-way street now.
Hello,
ReplyDeleteWell with reference to "Patience, young Jedi," I do not consider myself a Jedi, but I feel as though I can always aspire to be greater than I am and to have more patience. I have big goals and hopes for the outdoor season, but at this moment I have to slow down and build strength in my tendon. I want very much to be running with full speed, and going over hurdles, and landing in the long jump pit already, but I simply have to trust that that will come in time. I need patience now with doing my knee work and trust in my coach and myself that we will be better for it in April, at the start of competitions! Another thing about me, you will learn as I write and you read, is that I love quotations. I find they help express emotions I sometimes cannot find the words for on my own.
I will leave you with one of my favourites: Dream, but don’t forget to live. Then maybe you’ll find yourself living your dream!
Your Athlete,
Susan