Key Lime Martini Mei

The first thing you should know about Mei is she is the most selfless person you will meet. Every single time I talked with Mei I left feeling better about myself. This is because she always wants to talk about YOU. I realized after our first couple of meetings Mei knew everything about me and could list all of my family by name and I knew very minimal things about her.

One night I decided to take Mei to Front Street and have drinks and dinner with the intent that I did not talk about myself ONCE that night. Every single tidbit of information about Mei is an incredible achievement. I learned there was nothing Mei could not do if she set her mind to it. She was older than the other SUS athletes because she was in what I understood as their national guard, she boxed, she did cheer, and she would never tell you any of that because she was always so focused on the other person. But, on this special night, key lime martini in hand, I got Mei to talk about herself. We talked about big things, what we wanted in life, who we wanted to be, and the little things like practice and team gossip. We finally got to talk about her Fiancé and what her wedding would look like (some seriously wild traditions going on there, including one where the groom has to find the bride's shoes).
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The coaches did their best to pair the SUS up with alike personalities on our team, and I ended up getting paired with a mentor. I realized we share so many characteristics. One of the best ones I see in myself and Mei is our ability to move to the next thing. Mei’s life has already taken so many routes and she’s able to do it because she doesn’t dwell on the past. She leaps into the next challenge, throwing herself into it full-heartedly. I often question myself and my ability to stay committed to things, but Mei showed me it’s something to be proud of, there is no shame in tackling new challenges.

​I hope Mei learned something from me because I learned so much from her. I was worried our different cultures would make it hard to really connect with our partners, but I was thankfully mistaken. That night with the key lime martinis, Mei became one of my best friends, we told each other everything and laughed late into the night. Mei helped me learn just how close we are to all the people around the world, I now know I could have best friends in every country. Mei taught me so many little and big things and I will never be able to truly thank her in a way she deserves, but I hope a couple key lime martinis was a good start. 

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Author

Kat Gruner