Finalist: “Homesick” by Brandon Spence
Brandon Spence of The St. Thomas More School (CT) mid stride.
We were in a time of crisis when this all began. Coronavirus had just come to North America and things were getting bad. I was 15-years-old when this all happened. I was looking to go to a prep school at the start of 2020 because I wanted to further my athletic career at a school in America. Being from Canada, football isn’t prioritized like it is here in America. I was searching and reaching out to multiple prep schools, and then came across the one I’m currently at now. I took a tour and to be completely honest I didn’t think I was going to go to this school because I didn’t know if it was going to be the right place for me, but it turns out it was.
St Thomas More school gave me an opportunity to move down to America and play football at a high level. I was so excited when I learned that I got into the school because I had worked so hard for this moment. My parents and I had a talk, and we decided that I should go to this school. I knew that I had to start taking training seriously for school, so I started to workout and train every day from April 2020. I had to move to school in August 2020, so I knew I had time to prepare. Towards August I was getting nervous, not knowing what to expect. My dad and I left to drive down to Connecticut August 25. I was fifteen at the time. We spent the night at the hotel and then we went to buy some stuff the next day. After getting what I needed, we stayed at the hotel 15 minutes away from the school. I moved in august 28th. I was nervous, but excited to reach my new school. When I first got to the school, we did another tour and then we went to move into my room. I’m not going to lie, I was pretty disappointed, I was moved into the younger kids dorm, and was put in this hot room. I tried to act like I liked it but it was hard for me. My dad knew that this was going to take some time for me to adjust and it did. My dad helped me move in and then he left.
I was intimidated at the start. I’ve never been surrounded by so many people who were as big as my new teammates, and I found out I was one of the youngest kids on the team. The next day after I moved in we had practice, I didn’t do great. I realized I had to work on a lot of things. From that day, we had practice everyday after school at 3:00 p.m. I honestly didn’t like going to practice and I was extremely homesick. The transition wasn’t going great for me. I had my sixteenth birthday during the season, and it was my first birthday away from home. It was a hard time for me. I finally started to make some friends at the school and it became easier for me. We started to hang out every night and I became less homesick. When November came it was time to go home. I didn’t like how I played during the season and that pushed me to workout. I came back to school looking bigger than before. I felt confident and was excited to see my friends. When I came back in the spring I was moved to the football building and the whole transition was a lot easier. I actually started to enjoy it. We had a great spring, I worked out more and got bigger, faster, and stronger. We had a spring game and played a national powerhouse, St. Frances Academy, who at the time was one of the best teams in the country. I was finally playing well and I started for the game. We prepared the whole spring and practiced hard every day up until that point. It was a close game, and we won the game 7-5. It was a great experience for me, it made me realize that I can compete at a high level against some of the most talented kids in the country. I was honored to be able to play in that game. It was one of my school’s biggest wins in its history.
After the spring, we went back home. I have the dream of playing Division I football, and I was ready to work my tail off in the summer so I can have a good junior year. I was so focused on football, and it paid off. I came back looking like a different person from when I first arrived on campus. This year I was able to play against some great competitions and I got some decent film to help with my recruitment. I have made more friends, and now it’s very rare that I am homesick. I was surrounded by strangers coming into my junior fall season, and now I can call every single one of my teammates, brother. I was named captain for the spring of my junior year and now I am working harder than ever for my senior year. I’m looking forward to every moment of it!