Aug. 15, 2004
The Notre Dame women’s socccer team includes many great stories from the summer of 2004, incluing junior defender Miranda Ford’s unique opporunity to study in London and visit France. Ford’s recap of her summer follows Jenny Walz’s report from playing with the Fort Wayne Fever and two others – Lizzie Reed (Jersey girl plays soccer on Texas) and Nikki Westfall (stellar summer with Cleveland Internationals) – will check in with the summer recaps before the current Brazil trip is over. What I Did Last Summer: Miranda Ford (Aug. 15, 2004) At the beginning of this summer, I was fortunate enough to spend four-and-a-half weeks in London with Notre Dame´s summer-abroad program. I took a three-credit British History class that included a field trip to Normandy the weekend before the 60th anniversary of D-Day. I was able to see parts of France that I probably wouldn’t ever have the chance to visit otherwise and I learned so much more from this trip than any World War II. textbook. Oh, and did I mention that the food in France was AMAZING? Especiallly CREPES … I think I could live off those. I ate at least 12 that weekend – yum!
Friday’s trip to a Brazilian mall allowed Miranda Ford (right, next to Mary Boland) the chance to sample one of her favorite treats, crepes, after visiting France earlier this summer while studying in London.
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Living in London was a blast. In addition to my history class, I also took a two-credit Shakespeare course that held class at the Globe Theatre and included three Shakespeare plays. I stood to watch two performances, Romeo and Juliet and Much Ado About Nothing, in the Globe just like the majority of the audience in Shakespeare’s day. Did anyone ever see Shakespeare in Love?That experience reminded me a lot of the movie. I also saw a performance of Macbeth on our field trip to Statford-Upon-Avon, Shakespeare´s birthplace. Lastly, I took a one-credit theatre course that included five modern plays around London´s theatre district. Some highlights include seeing Hugh Grant in the audience of a more obscure play, and Julia Stiles starring in the play Oleanna.
Miranda Ford’s versatility as a defender and midfielder gives the 2004 Notre Dame roster even greater depth.
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Everywhere you go in Europe, soccer is the No. 1 sport. The F.A. Cup was finishing up in London the week we arrived, and the EURO was just starting in Portugal the week before we left. Although we never got to see any games in person, we enjoyed viewing the games on TV´s in local restaurants and pubs. A few of my friends got to see part of a cricket match in person, but that sport goes on for days. I think I’ll stick to soccer. The Notre Dame summer abroad program is a great opportunity for student-athletes since it is impsssible to study abroad during the fall or spring semesters. My teammate, Gudrun “Gunna” Gunnarsdottir, was accepted into the program with me but she found too many conflicts with the Icelandic National Team at the last minute. This summer was a great experience both for school and soccer. The environment in London is unique and a welcome change from South Bend. And now that I’m back with all my great Notre Dame teammates, I can’t wait for the season to come and for my junior year. Mirand Ford #28