I attended Mr. Paul Wilcox’s talk as a part of the Transatlantic Series. I was surprised to learn that our own Dr. Hill organized and created the trophy for the event, as there had been none for the past 80 years. My experience with Track and Field is quite limited, but I enjoyed learning more about its history and development.

What interested me most about the talk was the idea of cultural exchange. Mr. Wilcox noted that the “experience of traveling together as a team and meeting your counterparts (with different cultures, etc.), broadens the mind immensely”. From differences in naming conventions (long jump or broad jump?) to something like having two taps for hot and cold water, learning and experiencing things that aren’t customary is valuable. And I believe that it is this spirit of competition and learning that has allowed the conference to survive the Great Depression and two World Wars. Sports is a perfect platform upon which this exchange may occur, with the Olympic Games being another notable example. Through tough but friendly competition, sport can be a force that unifies people in our world which is more globalized than it has ever been.