After that experience, I was uncertain about my curling future. Photo Courtsey of Justin Chen ’19.īut two summers ago, I was given the chance to represent Hong Kong on their junior team. The Hong Kong National Team throws during the 2018 Pacific-Asia Curling Championships. At that point, I thought curling was no longer going to be a priority in my life. But while the curling program at Western was exceptional, I was never at peace with my decision to leave Macalester, which prompted my return after three semesters in Canada. Canada is the largest market for curling in the world, amd many consider winning the Canadian Olympic trials harder than winning the Olympics themselves. While on the Western varsity curling team, the dream was to compete at the Canadian University Nationals for the chance to represent Canada at the World University Games. This prompted me to transfer to Western University in Canada after my first semester. However, not being able to curl competitively left me feeling empty. I came to Macalester for a liberal arts education, not curling. On my back I carried a jacket with my name and the city I was representing: Hong Kong. Athletes that I had only seen on TV stood all around me. The decorations of the PyeongChang Olympics still adorned the Gangneung Curling Center.
Those were my first thoughts as I walked out onto the playing field for the first draw of the 2018 Pacific-Asia Curling Championships just a few weeks ago.