One Way Ticket to Western MA

That summer after my final BCHL season, I returned home to my parent's new place in Sardis, BC to work at a local restaurant as a server and hang out with the boys. I was not as serious about training for my NCAA debut the following fall as I had fully embraced the D3 reality. After five years of junior hockey I was excited to begin the next chapter of my life as a college student. That last full summer at home was one of the best of my life. I travelled to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico with 10 other buddies including Tyler Spice - it was the trip of a lifetime. Senor Frogs got the best of me. The Abby boys and I then put in one last outstanding performance at the Merritt Mountain Music Festival in July. Absolutely nothing about that vacation is printable, well the Travis Tritt concert was exceptional from what I remember. I finished the summer by spending two weeks working at the Stan Smyl hockey school in Whistler, BC. I spent everyday on the ice with the kids or out in the most beautiful nature on the planet. It was a relaxing experience that helped me prepare for the upcoming school year and make a few more dollars to spend in America. Upon returning home from the Whistler camp I had just a few days to pack up my life for a one-way ticket to Western MA.

I flew out of Vancouver international airport on August 24th, 2006. My parents drove me out to YVR for my latest of many departures. I can still remember the look on my mother's face as she hugged me goodbye in the terminal with tears in her eyes. I knew my dad was feeling the same way but the big guy just doesn't show it like Mom does. He definitely knew that I had snagged a box of his Viagra but that is a whole other story. I left Vancouver at 7:15am on a flight to Toronto. I can still picture the guy that sat next to me, a middle-aged business type who looked like he hated his job. I asked him how long the flight to TO would take, "about four and a half," he replied. I was so excited I could not sleep. Upon landing in Toronto, I began the always painful process of clearing United States customs with a student visa. One lifetime payment of one hundred dollars to the department of homeland security and a full body cavity check from Officer Garcia later, I was on board a small commuter flight from T.O. to Logan International. The guy across the aisle got pretty excited when he thought I was going to 'ZooMass.' I was so excited to see the city of Boston. I can still remember looking out the window of the plane as we landed and seeing the Atlantic ocean for the first time. I had made arrangements with the Amherst College International Students Association to be picked up at Logan.

I was greeted by a tall Indian guy and a short Romanian girl, both quiet seniors who I would never really speak to again after that night. It was 8pm by the time we departed Logan and soon it was dark out. It was a two hour drive out to the college that passed without much excitement, stopping to eat at a 5-in-1 highway stop. I made small talk with the other passenger, a young Spanish woman who was going to be a language tutor at Amherst for the year. She was beautiful with a great accent. I would always say hi to her over the course of the following year. She began dating a Spanish professor at the college and I would often see the two of them making out viciously in front of the Spanish building on my way to my political science course. That night on the drive to Amherst I saw colonial style houses for the first time in my life, so different from the stucco of the West Coast. The first person I met on campus late that night was Rob Stevenson. Rob was a Junior then and a member of the hockey team. His senior year he served as team captain. Rob was well respected by everyone at the school and a guy I always looked up to. He was on campus early that summer as he was working as a Resident counselor in the dorms, along with fellow teammate Rylan Burns. I too would take on the RC role in the social dorms my sophomore and junior years, partly because of their influence.

I could not believe how beautiful the campus was. The buildings were all so old yet unbelievably well kept and remodeled inside. There were trees everywhere. After taking me to the campus center to meet Rob and picking up my ID card and room key, my ride dropped me off in front of my new residence, Williston Hall - Room 302. It was now close to mid-night. I dragged my two suitcases, computer, and suitbag up three flights of stairs to check out the room that would be home for the year. I was two days ahead of the incoming freshman class so the building was still empty. Williston was a beautiful old building that been completely restored in the original design of 1832 (close enough). My room was simple: bed, dresser, desk. I had not had a chance to buy anything for my room as it was so late when I arrived, so I spent that first night sleeping on top of my winter jacket. I had no idea that Western MA would be so hot and humid. The first person I met was my neighbor, a fellow international student from China, Fangda Wan, who had arrived earlier that evening. I remember being so excited that I could not sleep. The next four years would be the best years of my life - mostly I just couldn't wait to meet the divas.

The next morning my assistant coach took me down Route 9 to the target where I bought everything I needed for my room. I also toured the campus and checked out the ice rink, Orr Arena. I remember thinking how strange it was to be in Massachusetts of all places. The landscape in Western Ma is not too different from rural B.C.