Hi Illini Nation,

I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year!  I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and are off to a great start in 2022.

I want to share a little bit about my trip to Abu Dhabi for The Women's Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship last November. It was my first tournament outside of China or the US. The weather and conditions were very different from what I had been experiencing in Champaign. Abu Dhabi has a desert climate which is very hot and dry. I set two big goals for the tournament.  While I didn't finish top-20, I did accomplish my first goal for the week of making the cut. This tournament was a really good experience for me from playing in new and different conditions to learning from the other skilled players I was paired with. I also learned what parts of my game I need to work on to better prepare myself for this semester.

I would also like to share what the team did during the break to aid our preparation for the spring semester. We have five leadership development teams. They are Team Brand/Core Values, Academics and Team Building/Social, Community Service, Practice, and Motivation/Workouts. Each leadership development team is comprised of two to three members. This allows us to learn leadership skills and take ownership of the team. During break the Workout Team shared exercises for everyone to do, and at the end of the week everyone sent a picture to the group chat of them doing the exercises. The Practice Team did something similar with various golf drills. At the end of the week, everyone shared a picture of them completing the drill. Participating in the activities helped us stay connected while also keeping each other accountable when we were not training together. The Academic and Team Building/Social leadership team organized a team zoom chat where everyone shared a little bit about their experiences during the break. The team zoom helped everyone catch up and share their goals for the spring semester. Having the leadership development teams organize so many activities helped us feel together even though everything was virtual. 

Lastly, thank you all for your continuous support of our team. With COVID, 2021 was not an easy year, but we have come through it all together. And we know that 2022 will be a better year!

Stay safe and healthy!

Siyan Chen