Courtesy: Fresno Pacific Athletics
Buying and selling the sub-arctic winters of Scandinavia for the scorching summer time warmth of California’s Central Valley is actually the definition of going from one excessive to the opposite. For lifelong swim athlete Tora Elise Lynes Nordli, it was a commerce value making. In December of 2023, Tora was supplied the chance to swim for Fresno Pacific College. She recalled all the films she’d watched about life in America and imagined what it will seem like if it have been her. Getting right here was one factor, but it surely’s what she’s performed since stepping foot on the FPU campus that has outlined Tora’s story. Her journey to Fresno has been a narrative of braveness, affirmation, dedication, and success.
“My complete life has… been within the pool”
Tora was raised in Oslo, the capital of Norway. Rising up as an lively baby, she performed many sports activities equivalent to: hockey, monitor and area, handball, and naturally, swimming.
Together with her mother and father being athletes in both gymnastics or handball, they gave her many alternatives to discover a sport that referred to as her title. As a child, Tora began swimming classes to study the life-saving device. As she continued, she found that swimming was her ardour and continued pursuing it. “My complete life has most likely been within the pool, I don’t know learn how to put it away,” Tora states.
As Tora started exploring doable paths for her close to future, the chance to swim at FPU grew to become clearer. With a mixture of analysis, speaking with mates, household, and her swim coach, she requested herself how life like attending faculty in America and swimming within the NCAA might be for her. With one in all her mates from Norway, sophomore Martin Beitveit, presently swimming for FPU, she reached out to him for steerage. The quantity of assist and encouragement she acquired, comforted her in her choice to take the leap throughout the globe.
Handball is one other sport that Tora has loved enjoying. With a few years of expertise below her belt, she nearly selected to pursue it professionally. Nevertheless, she realized that doing swimming and handball on the identical time was very overwhelming and needed to resolve which to deal with completely. Whereas evaluating each choices she considered her nice mates in each groups, however felt that swimming did one thing totally different and particular in her in comparison with handball. She realized that her coronary heart was extra in swimming and was desperate to see what following that path would seem like in her skilled profession.
Tora has discovered her place right here at Fresno Pacific and has grown keen on the folks and neighborhood. The quite a few actions the college has to supply – from climbing journeys in Yosemite and the Sierra to the various golf equipment and volunteer alternatives – have helped Tora really feel extra immersed in the neighborhood. The small faculty and sophistication sizes have allowed her to construct extra relationships and nurture them. As excited as she felt about transferring to FPU, naturally, she had some reservations as effectively. Fears about transferring away from household, mates, and speaking in a brand new language have been issues that befell in her thoughts typically. Via all of the feelings, she determined to hold on to her braveness and embark on the journey to Fresno Pacific.
When she first arrived in Fresno, she was shocked at how totally different town and area appeared in comparison with what she had imagined. She noticed loads of agriculture right here within the Central Valley, which isn’t generally depicted in motion pictures going down in California. Nonetheless, the extra Tora explores Fresno she is beginning to discover the “treasures” the Central Valley holds. The FPU neighborhood have welcomed her into the household with open arms and given her a house away from residence.
Being a part of the Fresno Pacific swim workforce has been an incredible expertise for her to this point. Tora acknowledged that she had a clean transition to the FPU swim workforce and had expertise transitioning into the athletic program. Competing within the breaststroke and particular person medley – which is a mixture of 4 totally different swimming strokes – her present aim is to have enjoyable and make reminiscences. She understands the significance of having fun with the game and believes the outcomes she is searching for will include time. “Proper now I’m in a part the place I simply need to get pleasure from swimming, and see the place [it] can take me and what I can do with it.”The workforce itself is a cohort of like-minded student-athletes that love and assist one another by way of the totally different levels of faculty life. When requested what one in all her favourite reminiscences she’s had to this point, she stated it was going to her first swim meet in America. Sitting on the bus together with her workforce was when she realized that she was now not swimming for herself, however for the workforce as an entire. Cheering for her teammates is one in all her favourite issues and it brings her a lot pleasure. Not too long ago the ladies’s swim workforce traveled to Alaska to compete, and though they didn’t win the meet she shared that the journey was bonding expertise with one another. When arriving in Alaska, the chilly climate and the snow greeted them. It comforted Tora with the reminder of residence. With the ability to go to the “North Pole” and meet “Santa and his reindeer” was a enjoyable reminiscence for the workforce in Alaska.
Earlier than transferring to Fresno, the eagerness and motivation she as soon as had for swimming began to vanish. She felt nervous about becoming a member of the FPU swim workforce and had doubts about not being adequate. Questions on how life in America was going to be, faculty, and the swim workforce would come up in her thoughts. Nevertheless, when she arrived to Fresno, swam together with her teammates, and immersed herself inside the loving neighborhood, her motivation for swimming returned. The truth that everyone seems to be accepting and brings encouragement to one another is the setting that Tora loves in regards to the FPU swim workforce.
Faculty is an journey, and constructing relationships is a vital device to have. To nurture her relationships, Tora likes to seize espresso with mates and discuss life. Since coming to America, she’s found new locations she enjoys equivalent to Dutch Bros and Love & Thai, the restaurant throughout the road from the FPU campus. Her first time having espresso drinks like Dutch Bros was right here in America and he or she is worked up about discovering many extra new issues. Her enthusiasm and optimistic angle in the direction of life and immersing herself in new experiences has made her a shining mild on campus.
Tradition shock was inevitable when coming to America, and so have been the changes that needed to be made when transferring midway world wide. One of many first issues that stunned Tora when she arrived at FPU was how welcomed she felt. After the lengthy travels, she felt seen and liked right here on campus by her fellow classmates and student-athletes. Adjusting to the climate and time zones of California was a problem. Winter in Oslo is often round 26º F with file temperatures as little as –3º. Summer time temperatures are nearer to 70º which is a stark distinction in local weather in comparison with the acute summer time days within the Central Valley. The time distinction can be an vital issue Tora has to consider when contacting her household. With the time distinction being 9 hours, she takes additional consideration to consider the most effective time to name her household and mates so she doesn’t name them at inopportune occasions equivalent to in the course of the night time. Via these variations and adjustments, Tora is adapting to life right here together with the brand new experiences and cultures Fresno brings.
“Do your finest, put within the work, and all the time observe your coronary heart.”
Life has taught Tora many issues all through her transition from Europe to California. She has discovered the significance of reaching out to others if she wants assist or is struggling. She states that folks need to be there and assist you and also you simply must do step one and attain out. For anybody on the market who goals of enjoying sports activities in faculty, Tora encourages you to go for it. “Do your finest, put within the work, and all the time observe your coronary heart.” That’s good recommendation from Tora Nordli that can be utilized all through each season of life, each the tough and those stuffed with journey.
