Hi, my name is Georgia.

Horizon was my first “real” job, and there was so much to learn, so much to take in, so many people to meet – I was intimidated.

My friend and I started talking about how great would it be to get a group of people together to play kickball, a sport neither of us had played since middle school.

It kind of started out as a joke – but before I knew it, I was sending an office-wide email gauging interest in joining a kickball league. I received a ridiculous amount of responses within minutes, and that was it. I was starting a rec league! And a few weeks later, I was walking over to the PS 100 blacktop, a makeshift field under the Williamsburg Bridge.

I’d never joined a work league or club by my own accord – everything I’d ever enrolled in at Horizon was mandatory or required. I was immediately mad at myself that I’d never done so before, because the types of people that join rec leagues – joiners, I call them – are awesome.

We maybe won one or two games throughout the entire season – but rec league isn’t about winning. It’s about meeting new people, maybe drinking too many beers on a work night, and then bonding over it the next day at the coffee machine.

Some of my friends from kickball became my best friends at work and beyond. I met people I would never have worked with or interacted with, and that’s what I love about sports. People come from all corners of the agency, and you meet people totally outside your own little work bubble.

I honestly attribute joining rec leagues to how I’ve been able to step out of my shell at Horizon. Now I feel much more comfortable around teams or people I haven’t met yet.

A year later, I’ve started three more teams – dodgeball, bowling (I just got my first strike last week), and a hybrid dodgeball and flipcup team!

Horizon Life means stepping out of your comfort zone.