The Story of My Life: Pullman in the rearview

It's tough to recap four of the best years of my life into one blog post. Wazzu was everything I could have hoped for and more -- cliche, yes, but 100 percent true.

I met my best friends, soul mates and myself. I learned about the person I was -- a perfectionist who didn't let loose -- and morphed into the girl I am now, with the help of the people and situations I encountered along the way.

I lived on a high for three years, being the star of sports and academia...and then I felt what must have been a glimpse of the terror that is depression, when my body wouldn't do what my mind and spirit wanted it to.

Had it not been for my final year of college, however, I would have missed out on a lot of life's lessons. After starting and scoring in every single game of my college career and fighting through every ache and pain with the "I can do it" attitude, I realized that sometimes you physically cannot do it, no matter how much you want to. Had I not experienced the emotional rollercoaster of dealing with a coach and friend who I never wanted to disappoint, I wouldn't be able to value the importance of communication and honesty the way I do now.

I felt as though I shut myself off from the people closest to me for a few months that senior year. I couldn't say what I was thinking and feeling, and I didn't want to. I wanted the days and weeks to pass as quickly as they could. This in itself was disatrous for someone who loved her college experience as much as I did. Even now, way more than a year later (as I am finally writing this post, July 13, 2008) it is tough for me to put into words what I went through that senior year.

I know God puts these challenges in front of me to learn from. As I gain more and more life experience, I am able to see why certain situations have happened in my life. Instead of getting upset or living in the past, I try to remember the good times and, rather than blocking out the bad times, I keep them in a special place in my heart to turn to when I face similar roadblocks.

After every losing basketball season, one reporter would ask me something along the lines of..."Kate, I know you were recruited by Stanford, and after a season like this, do you wish you would have chosen a Cardinal jersey instead of a Cougar jersey?" And, after every losing season, my answer was always, "No, I wouldn't have traded any of this for that. My heart chose this school, and there's more to me than just basketball. I'd still choose the Cougar jersey." And, after more than a year of reflection time, without a doubt, my answer would be exactly the same.