As any former or current UNC student can tell you, this statement always rings true. But in my three years at UNC, the statement above has never been more true than it was Monday night…when we won the NCAA National Championship!
My dad said it would happen. “They’re going to go all the way this year and you’re not going to be there to see it,” he lectured as I told him of my acceptance to the Cuba Study Abroad program. Granted, many people thought it would be this year. It’s Tyler Hansborough’s last year on the team, we had the majority of players return from last year (when we played in the Final Four) and well, as a Tar Heel family we were all pretty much feeling unstoppable. On Monday morning, knowing we would play for the national title that night, I suddenly wished I was back in Chapel Hill, NC.
Still, our celebration here in Havana, Cuba was a good second (to Chapel Hill, of course). We all crammed in one of the rooms at the residence to be able to watch the game together, doing all of the cheers and shouting purposelessly just as we would have had we been there at the game.
“TAR,” one of us would cry.
“HEELS!” the other side of the room would shout.
We did some of the same cheers after the game had ended, as we all “rushed” Avenida G screaming and shouting with delight. The great American annoyance/boisterousness that stereotypes us as a nationality, but on Monday night, we were willing to fit a stereotype. We ran past the Hotel Presidente, where our program director was staying for his two-day visit, shouting up to the eighth floor where we knew he’d be. We continued on until we reached the Malecon, stopping only to catch our breath as we breathed in the ocean air. We then proceeded to dance and sing, taking pictures and essentially, savoring a precious moment in time.
UNC had won the national championship and Tar Heels all over the world were celebrating the fact that our blood runs blue. Carolina Blue.
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