Puerto Rican Rain Forest

Hey everyone,

Sorry I wasn't able to blog yesterday. We had quite the day and didn't get in till way passed my bed time.

We started off the day with a solid win against Sacred Heart. It was a scrappy game, but we were able to pull it together in the second half despite playing without some of our injured teammates. It felt good to get a win to end the year heading into Christmas.

After the game we went back to the hotel to take quick showers then headed to the rain forest! The entire team piled on to a mini school bus and we made the hour drive up to the mountains to see the beautiful El Yunque rain forest. In the rain forest we stopped at a water fall and a lookout tower that allowed us to see all the way out to the ocean!

Once we finished exploring the rain forest we hopped back on the bus for a twenty minute ride back to the ocean shore to go kayaking. When we got there we had to wait around an hour so until it got dark. Once it was dark enough we split up into groups of two and loaded into the kayaks. We first crossed the choppy ocean water then began paddling up a small stream covered in hanging mangrove trees and green plant life. After about twenty minutes of paddling we finally entered the Laguna Grande. The lagoon was spectacular because with every stroke of the paddle the water lit up! Tiny bioluminescent organisms fill the water at around one million species per gallon. It was amazing to watch glowing fish jump out of the water or simply put your hand in the flowing water and watch it light up. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life and I think the team really enjoyed it. Here are some pictures!

Jana and her wonderful Puerto Rican Kayaker!

Gabby and Gabbie stuck in the trees hahaha

After the trip. We all made it!

For our final day in Puerto Rico the sun finally came out and we were able enjoy the sandy beach. Swimming in the ocean waves was a great way to end the trip before we hopped on the plane to go back to our families.

Merry Christmas! See you in 2012!

Playing in the Puerto Rican air (literally)

Hey everyone,

Today we finally got to play some basketball! When we arrived at La Universidad de Sagarado Corozon we were surprised to be greeted in the gym by birds and open air. One side of the court was completely open! It was weird at first, but by the time we started playing it felt just like any other game.

We came out with a lot of energy in today's game. We played hard and as team. Down the stretch the game was neck and neck. It really came down to the last minute where Elizabethtown was able to capitalize on some of our own mistakes. It was a tough game to lose because we played with such toughness. Tomorrow we will look to go out strong and get win in Puerto Rico.

After the game we headed back to the hotel. Unfortunately, it was raining so we didn't head out to the beach. Most of us took the down time to relax and get a little rest in. The highlight of the night was at our team meeting. Every year the freshmen have to do a skit in front of the team. The team was generous and allowed me and Abbie to do it away from the public eye. After our skit we got to know our teammates a little better by playing the roommate game. Lauren and Kris stole the show with their canny knowledge of how the other one thinks.

I wasn't able to upload any pictures today, but the website has some great videos from today's game.

Tomorrow we are playing Sacred Heart then we will be heading out to the rain forest for some hiking and kayaking!!!

Adios!

PUERTO RICO!

Here are some photos from our trip to Puerto Rico. I will post more as soon as I can!

Hola from Puerto Rico

Hola, this is Coach Hodgdon. I am Kenzie's guest blogger.

We arrived safely into the tropical paradise of San Juan Sunday afternoon. After a much needed night rest, we got up bright and early Monday and hit Isla Verde beach for a much needed team workout. Please see attached picture! The team worked very hard as they took in the sounds of the Carribean Ocean and the beautiful swaying palm trees.The losers of the last drill had to sprint to the water and jump in it (for the record I won the sprint!).

We then took our school bus to Old San Juan where we got dropped off at San Cristobal Castle. We walked along the ocean to the San Felipe El Morro Castle  where an informational tour guide taught us of its significance.He told us it took 250 years for a mixture of prisoners, slaves, carpenters and masons to build it. If you look carefully it is shaped like a "bull".We have many pictures of that trip as well!

The highlight of the day was Kenzie wheeling Laura Pierce around in her wheeclhair. Steep hills and cobble stone roads paved the challenging course, but the Puerto Rican street music and Christmas lights made up for the arduous path. We then had a long awaited team meal, the team devoured Puerto Rican classics such as pork, rice and beans, fried plantains, mofongo,etc.

The team was wiped out, but I was fired up in the anticipation of our big game vs Elizabethtown. We had a team meeting to go over the scout and to get the team mentally prepared for victory. Kenzie will give you all an update in the post game and after our beach excursion.

Coach

First Semester Reflections

It’s amazing how fast the first semester went by. I feel like it was only a few short weeks ago that my parents dropped me off and said their good byes. Looking back on the semester I think of all of the new experiences and challenges that I faced. Academically speaking, the transition from high school to college was a big step. College classes are more challenging and require the skill of time management (more so, the ability to not procrastinate).  Finals week was a true test of my ability to hold myself accountable for the work that I needed to get done. With four essays down and only one final to go, I think I did a pretty good job of it. Not to mention, I didn’t require any overnight stays at the library. Though I did hear they serve pretty good snacks between the hours of 3 a.m to 5 a.m so I might have to take advantage of that Spring semester.

As for the other half of my student-athlete life, I think there is a lot to reflect on for the first part of the basketball season. Entering the season we set a team goal, among many others, of reaching the post season. Even though we have been plagued with some unfortunate injuries, I still believe this goal is within our reach. The pre-season and first few NEWMAC games have taught us a lot. In these games the team has shown spurts of hard play and great communication. Coming back after break it will be our job to turn these spurts into 40 minute games of basketball. This is something I think we are more than capable of doing and will have to do in order to compete with the rest of the NEWMAC. 

However, before we get back to conference play we will be making a short detour to sunny Puerto Rico! The team is very excited to have this amazing opportunity to not only experience a different culture and landscape, but to be able to play some more basketball as well. Capturing two wins (and possibly a nice tan...) before returning home to see our families for Holiday Break would be the perfect gift.

Puerto Rico will be packed with so many fun events that  I will be blogging daily about the wonderful food, activities, and basketball!    

Happy Holidays!

Wheaton is lit up for the winter season! A great sight to look at heading into the last two weeks of work.

WPI and Babson are coming up this week. Another conference win before break would be a great confidence booster.

One day at a time

It was weird being away from my family for Thanksgiving this year, but I guess it is just one of those sacrifices a college athlete has to make. Our breaks are considerably shorter than that of other students, but it is worth it because we are doing something that we all love.

 With break now behind us the team has a lot of goals heading into conference play. Pre-season did not go as exactly as we had hoped it would, but it showed us just how much we need to step it up for conference play. After our Mount Ida game Coach told us to really focus on what we, as individuals, can improve in order to help the team as a whole. As a freshman in a new system, a lot of different things come to my mind. But the first thing that stands out to me, is putting more focus on the task at hand and take things step by step. A lot of the time I’m so concerned about what I should be doing next that not all of my attention is given to what I am doing at that moment. If I can change this then I believe it will help bring a higher intensity level to the court because all of my energy will be focused on that one moment.

This same idea applies to school too. With finals only two shorts weeks away, my workload has really increased. Sometimes when I think about the sheer amount of work that has to be done, it seems like too much. Breaking down what I have to do day by day will help to get all of that work done without feeling too overwhelmed.

Coast Guard is coming up on Wednesday. They are a team on a roll right now so it will be a good, competitive game to start conference play.

Tip Off

There was a great turn out for our Wheaton College Tip off this weekend. Thank you to all of the fans who came out on Saturday to help support the DJ Dream Fund. I feel like the team really fed off the energy and we were able to come out with a great intensity against Lasell. It felt good to get the first win of the season. Sunday’s game did not turn out as we hoped, but it really highlighted what we need to work on both individually and as a team.  From here it’s all about making the changes that we know that we are capable of making. Coach sent out a great quote after the game that I really believe captures our loss to Haverford today,

“Success comes from good decisions. Good decisions come from experience. Experience comes bad decisions.” –Alan Stein.

 We didn’t play our best today, but we can learn from the mistakes we made and be better for it in the future.

#Go Lyons

First game of the season

The first game of the season is coming up this Tuesday. The scrimmages against Worcester State and CCRI showed me a glimpse of what college games are like, but I think Tuesday’s game will be on a new level both competitively and mentally. Back home I had a routine for each game day. I followed it religiously and, in turn, I always went into the game feeling a sense of ease. Now I am 2000 miles from my parents, my home, my high school, and all of the different pieces of my old routine. I don’t have these same comforts here at Wheaton. I have to develop a new routine around college life. I’m not quite sure what that routine will be, but it will all start on Tuesday.

Tomorrow will be a day for getting a jumpstart on this week’s classwork and mentally preparing for Roger Williams. Oh, and also laundry... I have no more clean clothes.

Just a short introduction

Welcome to the life of a female student-athlete. My name is Kenzie Kuhn.  My love for basketball and intense focus on academics led me to the, small, Division III school of Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts. My life at Wheaton is a balancing act between school, basketball, friends, and finding time to bring my laundry down (and then back up) four flights of stairs. Through this weekly blog you will get a small glimpse into my attempts to tackle each of these, and the many other, aspects of college life.

First up, the ever challenging task of finding a table at the library. In order to write this first post I went to my favorite place to get work done, the library. The library is usually my favorite place to get work done, unless its a Sunday night. On Sunday night, it seems, every Wheaton student is at the library. This makes it an extremely difficult task to find a table. The balcony tables over looking the main lobby go first, then the tables on the periodical level, all the way down to the stacks in the basement. If you are lucky you can get desk by the stairs, but if you are me, you end up in the depths of stacks hidden at a single desk behind Ancient Western Poetry. Not the most social of areas, but it does allow for much needed work to be done. I was able to finish my paper for Writing 101 and my study guide for Chemistry without distractions. I guess, in the end, the depths of stacks was just doing me a favor before  I got to the busy week ahead. This is the last week left before our first official game. Scrimmage versus CCRI on Tuesday...