A Question's Echo

In the spring of 1999, my uncle suggested that I apply for a couple sets of sport internships being offered in Canada. One was with Major League Soccer and the other set with different global sporting organizations. Ultimately, I interviewed and got a call to spend six months in Belgium. I said yes and off I went to Brussels to work with the International University Sports Federation (FISU). While living there a colleague, who has become a good friend, invited me to join the roller hockey team he managed (as a good Canadian is wont to do). It was an easy decision for me, but an important one. We played about 45 minutes from Brussels and twice a week I would drive with him or take the train out to Loverval. I’d practice or play in a game and spend the night there getting to know his family. It was one of the best parts of my Belgian experience.

A handful of years after living there, my friend’s youngest son decided to come to Edmonton to spend a year of high school here. A couple years after that, the son of someone I had played with also made the decision to come to Edmonton for a school year. The fact that I lived here, as did a FISU Vice-President, lent comfort to both spending a year across the ocean.

There has been an echo to my uncle’s inquiry. It has rippled across the ocean and changed the trajectory of others’ lives, and still impacts my own to this day. I’m sure it wasn’t my uncle’s intent, but it demonstrates the power we all possess with our questions and ideas. The more we share, the more we influence, and the wider and longer that impact can be felt.