Hey, y’all, and welcome back to Teen Scene. In honor of cross-country season coming to an end, I wanted to share an essay I wrote for my College Composition class. I hope you enjoy my career story!!
Running: Most other athletes’ punishment, and my everything. I have run almost daily for the past 4 years—one mile, maybe four, or even eight. I started running during eighth grade after the cross-country coach noticed me keeping up with a talented runner during summer pride workouts. Running then became a significant part of my life, and my application would be incomplete without it.
Running that 8th-grade cross-country season was like love at first sight. I enjoyed the idea of being the best on my team, which was never the case in any other sport I have played. I was either an average player, or close to being the best, but I was not quite at the point to be number one. My first-ever race was a one-mile run on my home course, and I, unexpectedly, took the gold medal. From my first race to the last that first year, I consistently beat my times one after another and received many medals. I participated in school soccer and tennis come spring, so running track was not an option for me.
Entering my freshman year, I realized that it was time to work harder due to more experienced competition. I had a new coach since it was now high school, which I was kind of worried about. Coach Johnson was his name (we called him BJ). He was one of the reasons I stayed in this sport and had fun every day. I started the season off great as everyone expected and made it all the way to the state cross-country meet as an individual. This had not been done by anyone else at Enid High for around seven years, therefore this accomplishment was huge, especially since I was a freshman and only in my second season of running. The state meet was the peak of my career where I ran my personal best five-kilometer time: twenty-one minutes and twenty-five seconds.
Track season was just around the corner, and I was prepared to kill it! To my disappointment, I started to experience sharp pains in my shins from running on the hard track every day. This caused me to slow down, and it hit me hard. I pushed through these pains the whole season but was not satisfied with my times. I ran the two-mile and four-by-eight-hundred relay every meet. My four-by-eight-hundred relay team consisted of two seniors, one junior, and me, a freshman. We ended up making state for the first time in years, which again was a huge accomplishment.
After freshman year, I started to lose my passion for running. I was no longer interested in giving it all of my effort, in trying to be number one on the team. I was already burnt out. My sophomore season was average and not even close to the past two years. I started to realize I was only running for the social aspect and to stay in shape. I did not try my hardest anymore, which disappointed a lot of people, but I did not care. This was the same for that track season as well. I am now in my junior season and trying to build back the fire, courage, and willpower I once had three years ago. Running is my life, even if it is not what it used to be, and I could not live without it.
Thank you for reading my story! I hope you enjoyed it or maybe even learned something. If you have any questions, comments, or ideas for upcoming articles, email me at tweensceneenid@gmail.com. I hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving and a wonderful November. See you next month!!
