Alanna Smith had already left for her flight across the world to join Stanford's basketball team, so she never saw her mother's tears as the freshman departed Australia by herself.
Smith, 19, unintentionally made history the moment she stepped on campus.
Amazingly, the 193cm forward is the first international recruit for the Cardinal women's program, even after all of those talented squads in recent decades playing for Hall of Fame coach Tara VanDerveer.
"It was the hardest for my mum to let me go," Smith recalled of the emotional goodbye at Melbourne airport almost three months ago.
"But it's been a goal of mine for quite a while now. My uncle went to college in California and it's been stuck in my head that I wanted to go to college here."
It has been daunting at times how much she has to learn, adjusting to a new level, new rules and even popular foreign phrases - "tailgating" tripped her up not long ago.
Or, there's "bear-hugging" while playing post defence.
"Which we call half-fronting," Smith explained.
And, somehow, this fortunate freshman got through her first quarter of college without a single final exam next month and just two final papers.
"It is hard to believe Alanna is our first international player," VanDerveer said.
"She is a gem."
Smith can't believe she's the first foreigner on the program.
"It seems crazy to me as well," Smith said.
"I'm surprised there haven't been any international recruits here, but it is getting a lot bigger. This year, so many Australians have gone to college that I know."
She visited Wake Forest and Texas before settling on Stanford - not a difficult call given the coach, academic reputation and the great weather and culture in Northern California.
Smith had a good feeling about her choice from the start.
"The team is so welcoming. They're my family now. It's been a lot of fun getting to know them," she said. "It's been really cool just being here and experiencing it all."
Now, she just hopes to get to a Golden State Warriors game soon to watch Aussie centre and NBA champion Andrew Bogut.
