Serendipity

Both the volleyball and women's basketball
teams made time for site seeing while in St. Louis.

What are the chances? Sometimes things just happen like they are meant to be.

Like when a season-opening tip-off women’s basketball tourney is scheduled for the same weekend in the same city as the volleyball team is playing in the first round of NCAA post season tournament AND when volleyball plays Friday and basketball plays on Saturday/ Sunday AND when the basketball team is planning to be in town Friday night anyways for team bonding. One could not have planned this any better.

While I had heard the word serendipity before, I remember being encouraged to embrace the concept of serendipity in my first ever collegiate class taught by Dr. Ray Hamman. He talked a lot about serendipity, of “fortunate happenstance” or “pleasant surprises,” of “making discoveries, by accident, of things which they were not in quest of.” (Wikipedia) And to being open to make the most of these “pleasant surprises.”

Like rearranging basketball team bonding activities to include cheering on fellow student-athletes in the national tournament. 

I had the opportunity to drive one of the vans for the women’s basketball team. We were very close to a mutiny in my van as we drove all over the Washington University at St. Louis campus trying to find the gym, especially as the time ticked closer and closer to game time.

Once we finally arrived. I have to admit that I was pretty focused on the volleyball game and didn't pay much attention to the team sitting at the end of the court. That is until the game was over. After the announcement that fans needed to stay off the court following the game, that storming the court could be grounds for legal action.

Win or lose, the volleyball team always huddles after the game to do the Beaver Call.

Was it planned? Was it one of those moments of embraced serendipity? But the basketball team joined the volleyball team on the court. Classmates. Fellow student-athletes. Friends.

I’m a Beaver, You’re a Beaver,

We are Beavers All

And when we get together

We do the Beaver Call

B-E-A-V-E-R Beavers! Beavers!

GO BEAVERS!