My name is Josefina Villa Alonso and I was born in Argentina and when I was 10 years old my parents moved to Mexico because my father’s work decided to transfer him to the Mexico office.
My college goal is to study business and as part of my integral education I want to complement with field hockey, not just because I am passionate about it, but because is part of my education, is an activity that shaped who I am and I believe it will be relevant for my education and instrumental all my life.
From the moment I picked a field hockey stick, I knew I had discovered something amazing. Growing up in Buenos Aires, playing field hockey has impacted me and shaped who I am, not just my physical abilities, but also my personality and goals in life.
Playing field hockey at such an early age taught me the value of dedication and hard work in life and my studies. There is a saying in sports, “you are as good as your latest result”. Somehow sports is an analogy of life, whereas you face adversity, you lose more than you win, and above all, is more important the journey than the destination, process is everything, you have to train hard every week, no matter if you win or lose past week-end game.
Another angle is sometimes you can play incredibly well, but you lose, or the opposite, it´s the essence of collective sports, you need from every member of the team, to succeed, solidarity among teammates, trust in one another are key learnings, that I learned…the hard way… by playing hockey.
When you leave your country, your friends and your school, you are out of your comfort zone, moving to Mexico was a challenge and field hockey was a tool to overcome that challenge, by joining a team and dedicating to train and compete, try to fit in that team, rely and trust in my teammates and learn to start all over again, from zero, from scratch.
Going to study to the US would be to leave my comfort zone again, but would also be an opportunity to meet new people, learn from a different culture, make new friends, and why not? Have fun!!