When one is faced with the end of a dream - or at least the dream as if you had the ability to craft it yourself - many things can take place. But when that dream is strong enough, the dream is just replayed in perhaps a different order, different timeline, but with the same eventual outcome.
And for the WNBA's 31st selection in the 2010 draft, that dream is basketball.
When Vivian Frieson heard her name called on April 7th the continuance of a childhood dream emerged for the Gonzaga forward. And when she heard her name called again on May 5th by Tulsa Shock head coach Nolan Richardson the path of that dream took a sharp turn.
For some, the turn leads to feelings of defeat and the dream dies. For Frieson, the dream fell dormant.
"After I got cut from the roster, I must admit I was very hurt; I even had the nerve to question my love for the game of basketball. Nothing felt right."
But in that fallow time away from basketball, Frieson's love of the game returned in full force.
"That longing I felt, that LOVE, is what pushes me more than anything. Ever since I realized this, I have done everything in my power to make myself better in every aspect. A better shooter, a smarter player, a higher jumper, a faster runner, a stronger person and most importantly, a more positive and helpful teammate."- Frieson continues -
"When the Tulsa Shock fell off my plate I stepped up to the challenge of becoming better than good enough. I can gladly say that in the past 3 months I have become a better person, a better player and hungrier than I’ve ever been."
When I met Frieson at the team's media day, I saw that passion, that nervousness, that excitement, but also that confidence that she was doing what she was meant to do. Leaving college early to chase her dream all the way to the plains. Often I've wondered what happens to those who do not make the league, whose dreams take a sometimes fatal blow. For Frieson, she's retained that passion, that love of the game, that desire to grow - not only in sport but in life.
And as she's adjusted to live back in the Pacific Northwest, going to open gyms, Seattle Storm games, practicing, teaching and still learning her own game, she's posed a question that all of us should answer for ourselves.
"They say that our glory comes not from falling, but in rising everytime we fall. I’ve gotten up, when life knocks you down can you do the same?"
Can you get up? Vivian can. And did.