Elkins Prepares for Future While Living in the Moment

The following blog written by Quinnipiac defenseman Jordan Elkins appeared November 11 on the Women's Hockey Life Web site.

By Jordan Elkins

Heading North.

The excitement builds from day to day as our team prepares for one of our longest road trips during the season. Each year we make the 7-hour trek to upstate New York to face Clarkson and St. Lawrence and each year we return with on and off ice memories that do nothing but bring our team closer together. The long trip also means we leave earlier and our school week is cut short. It’s hard to focus in class at times when a road trip is coming up and as I sat in my Senior Seminar class and listened to the conversation about journalism and future job scenarios I found myself drifting back and forth between the possibilities to come after graduation and the big ECAC weekend ahead. It was in that moment that I realized much of the year would be like this, preparing for the future while living in the moment.

Senior year has been one of the greatest times of conflict I have found myself in. Not in terms of school work, or hockey, for the most part we seniors know the drill when it comes to school, manage your time wisely and do your best to stay ahead in your courses, and we have played three years of hockey at this level, we know the dedication it takes and we want nothing more than to help our team succeed. Where I have seen the biggest conflict however is between staying focused on the current moment while trying to prepare for the future. In hockey, we’ve all heard the expression “shift by shift.” You learn from the good things you have done and build off them while giving recognition to the bad but remembering that this next shift is new and you can do better, shoot harder, and/or skate faster. But now, now our lives are being challenged with thinking about this season, this year, this class, this shift, while preparing for what we will do when our final class ends or we play our final shift. 

Complete blog can be accessed via the Women's Hockey Life Web site by clicking here.