As you can imagine, I had a pretty crazy weekend. It was a long haul to get to Albuquerque, but it was great to see a little bit of the city. And my mom and I got to see 1 period of the game on Saturday night and the whole game tonight. Can't wait to get started, but for now I'm gonna get some well needed sleep.

Just a minor delay in southwestern North Dakota! 30 dollar speeding ticket, but now i'm ready to drive through the black hills!

Just me, the open road, and the new T Swift album. It's gonna be a good 18 hour drive!

I'm pulling outta Bismarck now, and I have two things on my mind: you make your own luck and holy shit! Excuse my language. But this is a wild ride, and I think the best is yet to come!

Ready for a Change

I can't really believe all that's happened to me in the past day. I'm a little flustered at the moment, as you can probably tell from my writing. Yesterday, I got a call from my advisor asking if I wanted to go play for the New Mexico Mustangs, also in the NAHL. I said, "Yeah I think I would love that!" Plus, it's a lot closer to home for me, and I think my family would enjoy coming to see more games...Then, the coach at New Mexico called me and talked to me. He said they're interested in having me down there because they need defensemen, and they're willing to give me a chance. I got really excited! I'm getting a fresh start. I get to go down to New Mexico and prove myself, and actually get to play. I went in to talk to my coach in Bismarck about the whole situation I'm in. I told him I'm getting an opportunity to play and that the most important thing for me right now is that I play. I said I wanted to leave and go to New Mexico because I didn't see myself playing here anytime soon. He said, "I think this is the right choice for you. I think you need to play and be in game situations. I wish everyone worked as hard as you. I can see you improve every day, and I can tell you're going to be a late bloomer. If things don't work out down there, you're always welcome back; don't give up on your dream because with your size, your grades, work ethic, and character, there will be plenty of doors that open up for you." I think I went about this in the right way. I was very patient and hard working here in Bismarck, and things just didn't work out in my favor. No hard feelings, but now I get a fresh start, and I have some motivation to prove people wrong because I know I can play in this league. My plan is to leave Bismarck today and make my way down south...Goodbye Bismarck, hello New Mexico!

Wow! Things change fast!

Learning A Lot About Myself

Even though I'm not technically going to school--aside from an online sociology course--I'm learning some valuable lessons throughout this process that I will be able to draw from for the rest of my life. I'm going through a unique experience, one that I will never forget. Hopefully, writing about it will help me remember even more than I would normally. I understand that playing junior hockey can be a trap for some kids. Some kids will take advantage of their time away from school and just shut down their brains, becoming lazy and unmotivated to do anything but play hockey and come home to the couch to play video games before the next practice. My parents and I were wary of this fact when I was deciding whether or not I would go down the road I'm on now; I was pretty much 100% convinced that I didn't want to play junior hockey when I was going into my senior year of high school. It's amazing how some things change and how quickly they change.

But I'm not "most kids." I'm trying to learn as much as I can from everything I do, see, and hear while I'm here, playing junior hockey, like I never thought I would. That's just the way I am. When I decide to do something that I know will influence the rest of my life, I decide to do it wholeheartedly. I don't think there's any other way to make those life-changing decisions, or else you're selling yourself short. I truly believe that in the past 8 months I've been putting everything I have into following my dream, and I've also been trying to take away all the valuable lessons I can from interacting with different people, seeing how other people approach the same daily grind I'm going through, and by pushing myself to the edge of my comfort zone, in the weight room and on the ice.

I'm different than most kids. I'm extremely self-driven, and I often think about unimportant things way too much, putting a little too much pressure on myself to be perfect. Looking back, my first few weeks of exposure to junior hockey were not very fun. I've gone through a little bit of a culture shock since arriving in Bismarck. But I'm turning into a hockey player. And I'm learning a lot even though--gasp!--I'm not going to school!?! I'm so happy that I decided to give my dream a chance. I know I will reach my goals if I stay true to myself and keep working hard like I have been so far. Because that's just the way I am. When I put my mind to something, I make it happen.