EDITOR'S NOTE: One of a series of stories written by Oklahoma Christian student-athletes who serve on the university's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee whose seasons suddenly ended due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

OKLAHOMA CITY (April 18, 2020) – This year was ours – rather, it was supposed to be ours.

We had it in our grasps, we knew what we had to do and we were doing it. We were confident, we had reached as high as number six in the NCAA Division II men's golf rankings, our team already had three wins and we were coming up on a tournament at our home course. The season was ours for the taking.
 
I still vividly remember where I was when I saw that tweet from the NCAA – hole seven of Oak Tree East. That is the exact moment when desolation set in, the moment when confusion overtook me as I thought about our senior Trevor Norby – was his collegiate career over? Nothing mattered at that moment. I think I can speak on behalf of all my teammates here at Oklahoma Christian when I say we were lost.
 
Coach's words from the parking lot following a tournament in San Antonio still echo in my mind: "This team is going to do big things. I'm really excited to see where we go." And now where we were going was back home, without even a chance at competing for a national title.
 
The past two years I have been here, we have failed to make nationals after going into regionals ranked at the top; one year we missed it by one shot. But neither of those moments compare to the feeling of not even getting a chance, to having someone rip the chance at a title right out of your hands is a feeling I cannot accurately explain.
 
I think the pain struck so deep because nobody prepares for this. Nobody expects to have their entire season pulled out from under them. Losing hurts but there's still a little part of you that is prepared to lose – you always know that losing is a possibility even in the most unlikely of circumstances. But nobody was prepared for this.

That is why this pain is so unique and quite frankly might never be felt again – because it was nothing we did, nobody got injured, nobody lost. It just happened without warning, in the blink of an eye … gone. On Tuesday we were qualifying for a tournament coming up and on Thursday we were packing our apartments to go home.
 
This is why we should never take anything for granted. You never know when it can be ripped away from you. Thankfully, Trevor is coming back and we didn't lose anybody, but losing the season still hurts – and it will for a while. But I know we will come back next year not only more prepared and hungry for a national championship, but also with more appreciation for the game and the people around us, because at any moment it can be taken away.