Pat Ryan Delivers Senior Reflection at MCLA Sports Banquet

Senior men's basketball player Pat Ryan was selected to deliver the senior student-athlete reflection at the MCLA all sports awards banquet on May 12th. Ryan is a four year letterman for the Trailblazers and is a two time MASCAC All-Academic selection. Ryan is graduating this weekend with a degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Accounting. Ryan's speech is below.

"For the past 4 years I have been a member of the MCLA athletic community.   This is a place that has brought all of us together in the goal to further ourselves.  While during this time we have all tried to excel in our own athletic fields.  MCLA is the place that I can honestly say that I have met some of my closest friends here during the last 4 years. During our games we all try to come out victorious.  It is that battle that all of us thrive for.  The hard work that we spend on those Sunday mornings that everyone else is still sleeping while we are in the gym running 16’s. This is what makes us who we are and makes us stand out in a room with a group of individuals. .

              Personally basketball has allowed me to understand just how important certain tools such as time management, team work, leadership, and communication. It was with basketball that I was able to find a way to perfect these tools that will allow me and many others sitting here today to use them as we enter our professional lives.

            My career here at MCLA is not a sheet of broken records and MVP’s. I have gone through some highs and extreme lows during my career. Just a year ago I was on a team that had a record far from being playoff standards. But just a few months ago my team and I were on the bus headed to Salem for our first playoff game in a decade.  This is one of my greatest accomplishments.

            But I see that they steps are being made to make this a successful athletic program. The women’s soccer team reaching ECAC, my men’s basketball team reaching playoffs, and the women’s basketball team reaching the NCAA’s. This shows that the hard work all of us have put in during the summer months and long practices are paying off. And it is my hope to hear next year that more teams are being successful in there postseasons.

            For all those times that all of us hated waking up at 5am for practice and workouts I can honestly say that it was worth something that made me who I am today.  I might not be able to remember every class or lecture that I had, but I know that I am going to remember the winter break  coming back the day after Christmas for two a days, the over packed van rides from Boston, and the tournament trips to Virginia, Cleveland, and Maine like it was yesterday.  These are the people and memories that I will cherish.  These are the stories that I will tell and the people that I will always remember."