A Homecoming in more ways than one

This weekend I headed back to the A. Not the down south, let’s get crunk, Hotlanta A, but the cactus-lined, dust filled, there is no freakin reason it should be this hot in November A. Tucson, Arizona. I had three reasons to be in Tucson this weekend…

1. I got inducted into the Hall of Fame
2. It was Homecoming
3. I needed to find a place to live

That’s right folks, you heard right. This So Cal girl is going back to the desert. After weeks and weeks of thinking and deliberation…making a decision and then changing my mind—then changing it back, I finally decided that going back to Tucson was the right decision for me. In fact, it actually had a lot to do with my first reason for being in Arizona this weekend. More on that later…

I had actually decided a while back that I would probably be moving back to Tucson but put off telling a lot of people that was my actual decision because I have a problem with commitment. I don’t like when things are set in stone because then I can’t change my mind every five seconds and continue to keep worrying and stressing about it. Like I said before, I don’t do well with big decisions. In fact, I hadn’t told my Coach until this past Wednesday. Nothing like last minute, eh?. I finally realized though that the indecision was doing me no good and actually, it’s harmful. I need to believe that I’m doing the right thing and that I am 100% convinced that I will be successful and in order for me to adopt that mindset I can’t be filling my mind with doubt. So, Tucson it is. In all actuality, it comes down to a gut feeling. It feels right just like it felt right when I made the decision to go to school there 10 years ago and yet still agonized over that decision for months and months. But guess what? That was the smartest career decision I could have ever made and there has not been one millisecond of regret ever. EVER. I am banking on that being the case the second time around.

I mentioned that being inducted into the Hall of Fame had a lot to do with my decision to move back. When I first heard I was going to be inducted, I was pleasantly surprised. Not that I didn’t think it would happen sooner or later, but sooner came the first year I was eligible and that did surprise me a bit. It’s a huge honor—one that I don’t think I even fully grasped until I was out there this weekend. But what it made me do was really reflect. I was able to think about why I was receiving this honor and what made it possible for me to become that person that was deserving of it.

When I look at my career as it stands now, I wouldn’t necessarily say that I am extremely satisfied. I reached a certain level of success in college and I really haven’t come that close since. Because the last 5 years have been such a struggle, I really don’t ever take the time to remember what was, since I am so focused on what I have yet to accomplish. But being inducted made me reflect. I had to. I had to give a speech and tell all these people about my experience as an athlete at Arizona and how it contributed to my success and it’s during that thought process when I really realized that all that made me successful is right there in front of me. I didn’t start my collegiate career with these grandiose plans of being a star athlete, but I ended up being taught how to believe in myself and turn that belief into success. You will never be able to be a Champion until you see yourself as one. That’s exactly what I learned in college and that is what made me a great athlete. So why not go back to that? To the person who instilled that in me, to the program that I believe took me from mediocre to way above average, and to the place where it all began. So while I stood up there and talked about all my great experiences as a collegiate athlete and the reasons why I believe becoming a Wildcat was the best decision I ever made, I also reaffirmed to myself why it makes all the sense in the world to go back to that. So here’s to round two…Arizona here I come!