Pro basketball – Gotta Have My Pops

Retiring the Sneakers & Induction into the Hall of Fame…

As many of you know, I graduated with my MBA last December after getting back from playing pro-ball in Australia, Sweden, and Lebanon in 2019. I now have a new degree and a few letters behind my name 😉 …. and boat loads of debt. So this is what it’s like to be an average student not on a full-ride scholarship. haha

Well, while at my graduation in December I was notified of my election into the Iowa Hall of Fame on March 2nd at the Iowa Girls State Basketball Tournament, hosted in the Wells Fargo Arena. Two amazing accomplishments and honors in one weekend and this time I am actually able to be in attendance. Before I knew I was being inducted into the Hall of Fame I was already debating putting the ball down so I could build my life outside of basketball and the way I see it what better way to go out on top?

So this blog is me announcing my retirement from the game I’ve loved for the last 15+ years. I guess I wasn’t really ready to announce it before this because that would make it too real. This game has been my identity for so long and I poured every ounce of me into it. It’s been a difficult few months coming to terms with it. I was finding back who I am without that ball glued to my hands and re-getting to know myself because I needed to fully believe that I am way more than the game that consumed the last few years of my life. It has been the air I breathed and what every aspect of my days were planned around. So you can say I went through and probably still am going through a little identity crisis.

Pro-ball for me has been an amazing way for me to make a career of the game I love while seeing the world at the same time, but I think I reached the point where I was asking myself more often, “What’s next?” and “Am I reaching my full potential?” And I found myself answering “I don’t know” and “no” a little too often for my liking. So I’m making a change. For the past few months I’ve been trying to figure out my next steps and trying to use my connections to start adulting and using that big ole MBA I just got. So hopefully everything falls into place in the near future, but for now I am grinding and figuring out what identity will replace the one I left behind.

2019 has been a reflection of all that the game has given me and blessed me with. It’s appreciating all of the countries it’s taken me to not only to visit, but to actually live in and experience the culture. I was fully immersed in something completely foreign, but absolutely amazing… and I was paid to do it. Basketball has put some pretty great people into my life even if for a short while. It has given me CAT5 hurricane experiences with no better people I’d rather survive with. It has proven that I find some of my best friends and people in the darkest of times. It has brought me to my knees, humbled me, and built me back up again. Basketball has also taken me to the highest level of play in the WNBA and it has taken me to some of the lowest moments in my life with injuries. It has broken me over and over (3 knee surgeries later), so I could prove that I could rise time and time again. It has given me an entirely new perspective, shattered my view of the world so I could have a more open-mind and it has shaped me into the stubborn, confident, faith-filled woman I am today.

This blog feels more like both a funeral and celebration for my pro-ball career and all the amazing stuff that’s left to come. It’s more than just a closing of a chapter. It is more like a starting of an entirely new book. So RIP to what got me here and bring on what’s next. I’m excited to see what God has in store for me when I learn to lean in and trust His process. Let go of what no longer serves me for something greater.

And finally, for any of you who would like to attend my Hall of Fame Induction, it’s on March 2nd at the half-time of the girl’s game at 5pm in Wells Fargo Arena. Thank you guys for all of the support, checking up on me, and following this crazy dream-chasing journey with me! I appreciate you all! Xx

Challenge Yourself to Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable…

So I haven’t really written anything really since I got to Australia, a few months ago, and now that our season is done I figure I probably should get on that. Our season here was up and down and we ended up losing in the second round of playoffs. However, our team really came together in the end and we were finally starting to work well together. I’m proud of how far we got and how much we improved by the end of the season. For those who don’t know, SEABL is a fair league during the Aussie winter/US summer months. It is very laid back, very casual compared to most leagues players experience while playing abroad. About two practices a week and 1-2 games over the weekend. The team I played for was the Supercats. They have a great program in Geelong with good people and a friendly fan base. Most of my teammates were very young, goofy, and were a fun group to play this past season with. As for games, I rarely played any more than 15 minutes a game, so I guess you could say I had to be efficient with my time. It was a new experience because never in my life have I ever spent so much time as an import riding the bench. Lol Usually teams are squeezing as much as they can out of their imports and we have to play anywhere between 30-40 minutes rain or shine. So it was a bit different than previous teams/ leagues to say the least but at least my body got lots of rest time I guess lol. Overall, I’ve really enjoyed my time playing with the Supercats here in Geelong and I’m very grateful for them allowing me to play once more in Australia and see so many old friends at the same time.

I’ve got about 2 weeks left now so I’ve decided this weekend to go up to Cairns to see the Great Barrier Reef. If playing pro ball has taught me anything it’s how to be comfortable doing things alone or if not comfortable, doing them anyway. It’s taught me how to make the most of every spontaneous moment with the random people I meet along the way. So I’m making this trip to Cairns alone to see something I’ve never seen before; staying in a backpacker hotel so I can find other travelers like myself. My plans are to relax, enjoy the warm weather, see the rainforest, and snorkel on the reef. A nice little get away from the norm. Don’t get me wrong I was little nervous deciding to wing it alone, but I never want what I am capable of doing or seeing, to be limited to the people around me or not around me. If your potential relies solely on the people you surround yourself with, you’re limiting yourself in more ways than you realize. Don’t be afraid to walk it alone for a while. Take that trip you’ve always wanted to take. Stay in hostels, backpacker hotels. Airbnb it. Get out of your comfort zone! Meet other travelers. Talk to those other human beings occupying the world around you. Get outside of yourself, your own life, your head. Listen to other people’s stories. Soak it all in and try not to get taken and sold on the black market in the process. 😉 jk.. but seriously, just learn to be smart. Don’t be like my mom telling strangers on the train all your details and exactly where you’re staying in Milan when you get there. Lol Gotta be careful traveling with Carma… Mostly, don’t limit how vividly, how colorfully you experience life to what you’re comfortable with.

Some of my favorite memories have come from those spontaneous, uncomfortable moments. I took a trip to Barcelona a few years back to meet up with an old friend and one of the nights I was left on my own. That evening I decided to go for a walk and maybe grab a drink at a wine bar down the road. I uncomfortably stood outside the entrance, pretending to look at my phone deciding if I had the courage to sit in a bar alone drinking; worried how it might look. Of course, my awkward self, happened to get in the way of a guy trying to walk in and we had a laugh. He noticed I was alone and invited me to sit with him and all his friends. They turned out to be a group of internationals like myself. Him and his buds were a group of New Zealand Rugby players playing for a team in France. The others were a group of travelers from Ireland. A night I would’ve spent inside my hotel room biding my time until my flight the next day, turned into surprisingly one of the best nights I’ve ever had. Drinking beers, singing, and laughing with strangers I’ll probably never see again; In a city I’ve never been before. One thing that night taught me was that one of my biggest regrets would’ve been staying in my room, playing it safe just because I was scared to experience the city alone. Scratch that, not alone; scared to experience it with a few quality people I just haven’t met yet. So here’s to landing in Cairns, meeting a few more quality people to experience the reef and make some great memories in new place with.

Prayers UP! Praise God for allowing me to experience so much of the world in this way through the game I love!

“The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.”

Proverbs 16:9

Update: From The Land Down Under…

Update: I’m in the land of oz again until September. Like coming full circle from when I was here 5 years ago. I love Australia, the culture, the people here, and Melbourne so coming back to play in their winter league wasn’t a hard decision. They didn’t really have to pressure me too hard to do it.

I get to see all my old teammates, friends, and adopted family members again. One of the many blessing I’ve gotten to experience traveling the world is making new, different friends and knowing people almost everywhere. It’s funny because I hadn’t realized all the “adopted” family members I’ve accumulated in my travels until my dad mentioned something to me the other day about how I seem to of made that a habit of doing that.

Starting with Australia: I have a older lady who considers me her adopted American granddaughter and she visits and brings her real granddaughter to our games sometimes. There’s also a family who took me under their wing when I tore my ACL for the first time. I met them randomly when my family came to visit and one of them was wearing ISU clothing. Turns out the parents actually used to be athletes at ISU! Small world! They let me babysit their three kids and spend time with them like I was a part of their family. It meant the world to me as I was post-surgery in a foreign country alone.

Puerto Rico: The couple who owned the house we were staying in lived above us. They took care of us and treated my teammate and I as family after two hurricanes destroyed the island and we were stuck there. Also, our neighbor Kathy who always looked so serious and spoke zero English treated us as a typical Hispanic Mom would. Making us lemonade, teaching us how to make lemonade and then scolding us for doing it wrong, telling us to move our car into her garage, making sure we were fed, etc. Etc. She was sweet in a motherly, occasionally scolding us kind of way. haha

Sweden: One day an elderly couple asked to sit at my table for lunch one busy Thursday and it turned into a weekly tradition of having lunch with my Swedish grandparents. They also invited me over frequently for coffee and Easter lunch with the rest of their family and real grandkids. They then gave me tickets to an classical Mozart concert which was an interesting, yet completely nap worthy experience I probably won’t do again. Lol They have no cell phone and the only way I can communicate with them is via their landline phone and the pen pal letters we send back and forth now. My Swedish grandparents told me to tell my parents that they did something right with me because I was a good girl. Haha My dads reply was “how’d that happen?” Lol

I was like, “ I know right?! You guys really did try your best to screw us kids up. From overdosing us on dimetapp, to the countless whoopings, to letting us play in raccoon infested buildings, to shooting our dog, Sunny, in front of me one bright, sunny day.”(Sunny had a tumor and needed to be put down… maybe just not in front of me. lol )Smh Farmer Tony teaching us all young… and Carma keeping us in line and busy with an endless amount of chores.

I am grateful to have such a huge, loving family back home who screwed me up, whooped me enough, toughened me up, and loved me just enough to mold me into a fairly sane human being most days. So for that, thanks Mom & Dad.

In honor of my bball journey coming full circle and reflecting on my travels. It’s an amazing feeling to sit here and be able to say I have family across the globe, even if they aren’t blood.

As of now, I’m living in a house with three other import players. Two guys who are pretty chill and my teammate from Venezuela who is helping me brush up on my Spanish. Our teammates and club people are all really nice and are a fun group, though I forgot how crazy and wild Aussies are. Practices are two times a week with games on the weekend. I just had an interview with a marketing group in town to work with them on the side. We will see if I get a second round interview invite within the next week. On top of all that, I’m still grinding through my second to last term of my MBA program and will graduate in December… hopefully. 😉 In the meantime, I’m just over here keeping busy and having fun while doing it!

Peace, Love, & Happiness ❤

Faith, Family, Basketball… In that Order…

My Swedish adventure is over. First stop back to the states was Gainesville, FL to finish up my 4^th term of my MBA program through UF. Second stop, home. Third stop coming up, Australia. When I began this basketball journey I gave myself 3 years. I never thought I’d still be playing, but hey, you love what you love. Though it is a love-hate relationship. Throughout it all I’ve had my ups and downs with all my knee operations, natural disasters, mental trials, living alone in a different country, time away from my family, etc. etc. I love being good at this game I love, but in my time chasing… wait I think I can say living this dream by now; my relationship with it has changed in 3 pretty important ways:

First way it’s changed is my perspective and respect for it. As many of you already have come to realize, as you grow up you learn to value your time with your loved ones more than before. Nowadays I can say I miss my time spent with my family more now than ever. That could also be because I have a few, pretty darn cute, entertaining nephews and a little princess beast of a niece who I feel like I’m missing out on while they grow up. I guess you could say I miss their parents/grandparents too from time to time, but mainly those lil beastlings. Haha jk But seriously, when you’re young, exploring the world, and trying to establish your independence, you place less importance on your time spent with your family. As you get older you realize all the love and valuable time you’re missing out on with every second spend away from them. Priorities change, as you grow. Don’t get me wrong, I do still love basketball, but I do also question when I will give it up to enjoy those little ones before it’s too late and they’re all grown up. Before I look back wishing I was around more.
Second way it’s changed is my approach towards it is different. My mentality has gone from that stubborn minded, bull headed, play through any/all pain athlete to a more smart-minded, big picture viewing professional. I pay attention to how much I push my body and when it’s telling me I need rest. I’ve had to learn to stand my ground with coaches when they want me to practice or play but my body is telling me no. It’s like pushing a car to drive with no oil. You do more damage than you realize, no matter how badly you want it to work. Your body needs maintenance too. What most people don’t realize is that basketball at this level is a business. Coaches and clubs try to get everything they can out of us. That’s their job as the employer but they will try to squeeze what they can out of you. They paid for a player and they expect to get their money’s worth, but like any piece of machinery, we can break down unexpectedly. We have to learn to walk that fine line between being an athlete wanting to earn our keep, wanting to play, and realizing that our body is our only tool for the career we’ve chosen. Once it’s broken or all used up it’s done. We have to learn that we’re the only ones that are going to take care of our body the way it needs to be taken care of and we have to be smart about it. Learn to rest. Learn to say no. Learn that ball is only life.. until it’s not.
Lastly and most importantly, I’ve learned where my career belongs on my priority list. I’ve learned to let basketball take a backseat to my relationship with God. I believe I got knocked down a few times these past few years to be able to see if from a different point of view. Maybe I needed to be humbled a bit. Sometimes we go through the motions of our faith and we don’t realize when exactly we placed God in the backseat. Many of us begin to idolize certain things in our life without realizing it. We get so caught up in our jobs, that promotion, school, running around trying to keep our busy lives together all while let Him fall through the cracks. Maybe we start valuing our Saturday nights out on the town drinking more than we do making it to church the next day. Maybe we fall into a spiral of doing those things that make us feel good but aren’t actually good for us. I think that in the beginning of my career, I let my relationship with Him take that back seat. Basketball became my idol for while; it was my dream. It was that think I wanted more than anything. I got a taste of the WNBA, success, accomplishment, money, and I was putting more energy into that dream than I was into my relationship with God. I was showing more love to that basketball/the plans I had for my life, than I was showing to the man who died for my sins. And sometimes He just has to put His hand on us and tell us to sit down. Like Kendrick Lamar says: “Be Humble… Sit Down.” Lol 😉

On my mission trip to the Ivory Coast last summer we spoke about how easy it is as athletes to begin idolizing our sport. Identifying a huge part of ourselves as “athletes” and when reality hits us and we have to hang up that jersey for a different uniform, it hits us hard. We have to begin learning that there’s more to us than just the sport we worked so hard at. We have to learn that our identity as an “athlete” is a much smaller part of who we are than we thought. I’ve learned that basketball isn’t WHO I am, but it is a big part of who I’ve become. Having that ball ripped from me time and time again was God helping me get my priorities straight. He doesn’t want to be 2^nd, 3^rd, or anything less. He wants to be #1, because unlike my time as an athlete or your time with that job, hobby, other thing you put so much into, He is everlasting.

So what I’ve personally come to realize, is that ball isn’t actually life… even though it’s a big part of it and what I love doing. I mean, it is my career …but at the end of the day, beginning of the day, and throughout the entire day… God is life. Family is Life. And the love that comes along with realizing that, is worth more than anything else in the world. So while I’m still pursuing my dream, my priorities and my perspective has changed dramatically from when I first started. I haven’t been able to get in the zone and come up with a solid blog for a while, but this is just what came to mind as I tried forcing myself to put a little something on paper. My relationship with God and this sport, the reprioritizing of what’s important to me, and the ability to see the bigger picture beyond what’s directly in front of me.

Faith… Family… Basketball… In that order… ❤

Because this is what happens when you’re not around for family vacations…

You get voted off the island and they take cute family photos without you… cool guys…

Sweden & a Little Perspective on the Price We Pay as Pro-Athletes Abroad…

I am officially in Sweden playing for the team called Telge, in Södertalje, Sweden. It’s pretty much a complete 180 from my situation in Lebanon. I have a cute little apartment with actual space to move around and a kitchen! Oh the little luxuries… The team’s gym has 6 courts, we have our own locker room, a sauna, and the weight room all in one place. We also get free gear, are Adidas sponsored, and receive massages/treatment the day after games. I real-life felt like I was an orphan they adopted from a 3^rd world country (though not literally) when I first got here. Beirut outside of my specific situation was good, but I was just SOO happy to be in this situation here in Sweden. They would apologize about stuff that was completely irrelevant to me. Such as, apologizing that my apartment wasn’t the absolute best. That they didn’t have my practice gear ready or have a water bottle for me. I looked at them like “You can seriously save your apologizes, I’m just happy to be here. “ haha

Anyone who has played overseas understands that it is nothing of the discipline, organization, or professionalism college was. In Poland I slept on an uncomfortable couch made into a bed the entire 4 months (my back killing me) and good medical treatment was hard to come by. Sometimes you don’t even have a trainer to treat injuries or tape your ankles before games. In Lebanon, we had no practice gear, no treatment, and no real access to a decent gym. It was in no way a professional, organized situation. If we wanted shots we could go to this sub-par gym with slippery, rubber floor, loose rims, and broken nets. We maybe, practiced 3x a week which consisted mostly of less than mediocre scrimmaging. If I was just playing recreationally this would be fine but at a professional level, when it’s your job, it’s not a good situation to rise in. Luckily, I’m no longer there.

I’ve played 2 games since being here. We’ve won both. First game, I got MVP with 23 points/13rbs the first game. Second game, I was 18 pts and 10 rbs. Our team has a lot of potential and so many fantastic shooters, but hasn’t had a real post player all season. So it’s a learning curve on building that chemistry and changing mindsets to utilize me. We will be fine though. Everyone is friendly and positive, which is a nice environment to be around and play the game I love in again. I’m blessed to be in the situation I am now, surrounded by good people and like I’ve said before it takes bad experiences to appreciate the good ones all that much more.

ON A SIDE NOTE..

I know so many people who wish they could play pro ball overseas. They see it as this amazing “dream” and like it’s a life of luxury. Yes, we get paid to see and experience the world. We get to do a lot of things other people could never dream of doing. We get to be fully immersed in the culture and get paid to play the sport so many people love. We get to delay the inevitable curse of growing up and “adulting”. But I want you to understand that that experience and lifestyle comes at a cost. We pay for it through our relationships with friends and family. We pay for it through a lot of time spent alone in a new country, where we are literally all we got. We pay for it through family time spent mostly FaceTiming our nieces/nephews so they don’t forget us while they grow up without us around. We pay for it on lonely nights abroad, becoming game-masters of Netflix wishing we had good, loving people to come home to every night. Wishing we had people physically present who truly, honestly cared about us and actually know us on that level. We pay for it through long-distance relationships that struggle to survive the 6-8 months in an entirely different time-zone. Through blood, sweat, tears, and occasionally physical injury, we pay. One way or another we pay for the decisions we make on the lifestyle we choose to live. It’s important to me to let you know, we pay. We take the good with the bad.

Sometimes the sacrifice is playing in a country with a terrible league where most players don’t share same level of basketball IQ as what we’re used to. Many players have to make the hard decision to either make more money playing in a bad league with bad basketball or play in a good league for less money. The lucky ones are able to make it in to a country with both, but those are the players who have been able to create a reputation for themselves while remaining healthy. We sacrifice our quality of life and sometimes our happiness in order to make a good amount of money in a short time. Or we accept the Goodwill version of the game we love and grind through all while knowing what quality basketball looks life and feels like. The game we fell in love with and chose as our career, watered down. Like nails on a chalkboard, because we know what “flow”, chemistry, discipline, and great clockwork basketball “IQ” looks like.

For women, we already make less than what men make and are put in worse situations than most male players. Men seem to have it better in the quality of what they receive, the way they are treated, and money they get for playing abroad. Though, I know plenty of guys who have seen some pretty terrible situations too, but women get the short end of the stick on this one 99% of the time.

We face a lifestyle that isn’t exactly the “norm”. It’s not the popular route for women because we’re supposed to find a partner, get married, get a good job, and start a family. Most of the women in this line of work don’t follow that or aren’t able to do it well and are forced to retire. Many men have wives and kids they leave back in the states while they play. Some are lucky enough to take them along, but it’s still a difficult life to live for everyone involved. My friends talk about how hard it is to not be with their kids while they’re gone. The sacrifice to play professional basketball abroad isn’t a light one, by any means.

Most people don’t realize what we sacrifice in order to follow our dreams. We risk our health, our relationships, our finances, our families, often times our sanity in order to keep clawing after and doing what we love. We sometimes float around during the summer months not knowing where our next job will be or when. People ask us over and over what’s next and us not having a good answer for them. Players get called up one night and told they have 2 days to pack up and be on the next plane out of town. It’s not a lifestyle for everyone. In a way, it’s a gypsy lifestyle. I write all of this, not to say our lifestyle is harder than others but to give you perspective. To show you that in every decision, a sacrifice is made. Not everything is as it seems. Not everyone is as they seem. Just something to chew on, from someone standing in a different pair of shoes.

For now, I’m just thankful I have been placed in a good situation, with decent basketball, and good people. I made a hard decision, to be in a place where I could be happy and where the quality of life is 100x better than the situation I was in before in Lebanon. Asking for my release wasn’t an easy thing for me to do. From the month spent in Puerto Rico due to the hurricanes, to my situation in Lebanon, I was tired of just simply “surviving”. I wanted to actually do more than exist and be able to begin enjoying it all again. Find my vibrant self, back again. So here I am… Ready to start exploring, start enjoying, and start living again… Simply enjoying where I’m at .. right .. now…

#StillBlessed 😉

“If you can’t sacrifice for your dream… then it’s not your dream.”

“In order to become the 1%, you must do what the other 99% wont.”

“Everyone wants success, until they see what it takes to get it.”

Take a Step Outside…

Since I’ve gone MIA for a bit I figured I should throw an update out there to catch people up on my adventures. I am currently living in Beirut, Lebanon. From what I’m told, the night life here is great and the food is spectacular. So far I’ve managed to make my daily home base a café right down the road called “HOOK” where I’ve made friends with the owner and her family. The area I’m living in is very much a residential community where people park wherever they can find an empty few feet of space and I’m sure a few dozen people get hit by cars on the daily because the lack of sidewalks. It’s definitely a different world but the people are very nice. A few blocks down the way is a more ritzy area where there’s a great social scene. A few low key bars and nice restaurants to eat out at, mostly by myself. Haha One thing I’ve learned traveling, living in a foreign country, and trying to get the most out of every place I visit is to not be afraid to go out and do things alone. Not everyone is as eager to fully immerse themselves in it and some people are just here to play ball and get paid. I find that a bit sad, but to each their own. Not everyone gets this opportunity to get paid to experience the world and not everyone will get to live somewhere completely out of their comfort zone like we do. The other day I went out and had a glass of wine and devoured an entire pizza while onlookers watched me enjoy my table for one and be the fatty my momma raised me to be. Corn fed and Iowa Bred. I won’t lie though, I was initially nervous because I had never been to the Middle East and because of all the tension over here. But Beirut isn’t at all like I imagined and hasn’t in any way made me feel uncomfortable living here. Even though my tall, Amazonian, ginger self gets stared down literally everywhere I go. I kind of stand out just a wee bit.

I wouldn’t say my living accommodations are spectacular at the moment but I’m just accepting where I am and working with what I got. On a positive note, I’ve only been electrocuted about 3 times since being here. One while trying to use the washer and another while trying to use my stovetop. Lebanon is already trying to kill me. Lol But overall, I’m not high maintenance and I’ve become very good at adapting to my surroundings. We don’t have a car so our teammates pick up the other Americans and I for practice daily. Which also means I do a lot of walking if I want to go anywhere somewhat close to me. It’s okay I could use the extra exercise and work through all my untapped reserves from not playing consistently for a while. We’ve played two games so far and lost both of them. One of them was to the top team in Lebanon but the other should’ve been easily won. I however wasn’t making anything for the life of me besides 3’s the first game. Makes sense right? Lol The further out you get the more accurate your shot becomes? The second game I played much better but not well enough to pull out a W. It can only go up from here though after every game my body feels like it got hit by a truck. I definitely do not bounce back as well as I could in my college days of taking charges and running around with an endless motor of energy. I’ve been living in compression tights, a knee brace on for walking around, and ice bags strapped to me since day 1 of practice. Haha

My sleep schedule has yet to become regular. It doesn’t help that the other Americans go to sleep at like 3 or 4 AM every night. The first week I was sleeping mostly during the day and awake for most the night. The last few days I’ve had a sort of insomnia and averaged about 3 hours of sleep per night. One would think I would be super productive with all this time but you’d be wrong. Still adjusting. I’m getting better though. I spend my days doing schoolwork at a coffee shop and nights practicing or working out. But boy did I miss this, getting paid to play basketball and have the freedom to explore the world. I get to dedicate my time to learning and investing in myself in the areas I value the most. What more can a girl ask for? J

For now, I’m just enjoying where I’m at and learning from where I’ve been. New year, New you. Not the same girl I started off as at the beginning of this long basketball journey but boy have I learned a lot. If you ever get the chance, step outside your comfort zone. Hang with people you don’t normally hang with. Experience a new restaurant, coffee shop, fun activity, event, or bar. Learn a different language or travel to a different country. What you know, where you’re from, and who you are, is just a speck of what this world is made up of. The world is bigger than you; so take a risk, take a chance, and step outside… I promise you won’t regret it.