Life now is kinda weird; my day after school always feels slightly incomplete. Ever since Track ended I’ve felt free in a way, but I have also felt that something is missing. Track is something that I am really passionate about, and it makes me feel like I am part of something bigger than myself, something that I can give my all in and have fun at the same time. Track may just seem like the sport that is totally pointless, but really it’s something important to me and a place where I have discovered many things about life and myself.
Track taught me to take risks. I was never really a risk taker, especially since I was home schooled for three years and grounded for two. When I first went to high school, I was really shy and didn’t plan on doing anything in school extracurricular-related. It was one day during my gym class, when my teacher, Mr. Smaha, asked me the question that changed my school life: “Katie, have you ever considered doing Track?” I had never really thought about it much, and at first, I was pretty scared, being as shy as I am. I had loved running and I wanted a reason to get out of the house more. I also wanted to make some friends and not feel like a the social outcast. It was outside my comfort zone, but joining track was a risk worth taking. The first day was pretty rough, but after that things got better. Through running, I made friends and I was able to find a way to contribute to a team that I could be passionate about.

I was able to learn to trust people. When I was home schooled, and during that time I was grounded for two years. Pretty much what that meant is that I didn’t talk to anyone for two years. I didn’t have many friends in elementary school, and when I left, I had no way to contact them. My neighbors all had male kids so I didn’t necessarily fit in, but I still had fun with them while I wasn’t stuck inside my house. When I went to school, I didn’t know if I could trust anyone because I didn’t really know anyone. That’s one of the reasons I was considering not joining track. I was too scared to trust anyone. Joining track, however, helped me find a group of friends, people who I can trust. At first, it was hard for me to trust them, but soon I learned how to work with them. After running with someone everyday, you learn to enjoy being around them. My team is full of people who I can trust and support, and who I think of as a second family. That’s something I’ve been searching for forever. I was able to find that in track. The friends that I made on track support me too. My friends helped me get ready for prom, something I couldn’t do on my own. They also support me in my music. I had a guitar concert a few days ago, and they either came or wished they could have come. Julia, a close friend and a captain on the track team, brought me flowers and invited her family to the show. I have a team filled with wonderful people who support me and who I can support as well. The entire team is like that. We have to trust and support each other, or else we won’t get anywhere. That’s something that I wanted to experience by joining track, that mutual trust and friendship that comes from being on the team.

One of the most important things that I learned from track is to be myself. That was probably the biggest thing that could have held me from joining. That’s the main reason I was debating joining the team, because I didn’t think I was good enough or could fit in. I used to hide certain parts of myself, because I was embarrassed, but through track, I learned that revealing those certain traits can help people.  During track my sophomore year, it was one of the first races during the indoor season. One of my friends, Annika, was running the 800 for the first time. Instead of going to one of the more experienced runners, or one of the captains, she came to me for advice. I had never run the event before, but based off of experience and assumption, I was able to give her advice that seemed to help. Many of the younger runners have come to me for help because, not to be arrogant, they could see that I cared about them and wanted to help them. By being myself, I have helped a lot of people on the team, and I am glad I joined for that reason.

My friends in track taught me the valuable lesson of letting loose and having fun. My “paranoia” could have held me back from joining, but I took a chance and it paid off. Freshman year and the beginning of sophomore year I was extremely uptight and was scared to do many things. I missed out on a lot of things. My friends at track convinced me to go to prom, and through a little bit of pressure, I found myself a date. Probably one of the best experiences ever. I would not have had that experience had it been for my friends in track. My friends, as I mentioned before, helped me with my hair and make-up, something that I am totally clueless about. Another thing that we have done in the past is TPing people’s houses when they go to state. Generally I am not a rule-breaker and I try my best to stay out of trouble. The way that we teepee though is different because we do it in broad daylight with the parent’s permission. It’s something the team does to encourage those who are going down to state. The first time I did it I was terrified, but then I warmed up to the idea because it’s a good way to show our support, as long as we get permission of course. It’s a way to have fun and support the team at the same time.

Most importantly, track has taught me to never give up. This past year has been full of experiences, all leading up to this point in time. Track season is over, and my junior year is almost over. I’ve been thinking about everything that’s happened, especially with this track season. What would have happened if I hadn’t done it? I would never have known how good I could be. I almost made it as an alternate for our state-qualifying 4x800 relay, but I was a second off from the girl who was the alternate instead. It hurts a bit, considering this was the fourth season where I came so close just to fail, but that just makes me stronger. Since I’ve failed so many times I was actually considering quitting. When I first joined track, I never thought I would be good at all, but I proved myself wrong. I’m going to keep with it though because it would be pointless to make the greatest decision of my life, have so many experiences just to give up the last year. Next year is my last year, my last two seasons, and I plan to make them count. I will never give up. My goal, aside from helping others, is to make it to state in track or cross country. In a race, especially in cross country, you can not give up, or else everything that you’ve done in that race is totally pointless. You don’t run a certain distance just to give in the last one hundred meters, that just doesn’t happen. That is what track has taught me, to never give up because it is always worth it in the end.

Now that the season is over, I’m taking some time off to recover, then I am going to give it all I’ve got to use everything I’ve learned from track to be the best that I can be, on and off the team. No matter what happened in the past, I am going to use it all to help me in the future. That is why I’m happy with my decision to do track, because the lessons I’ve learned from it are irreplaceable. What I ultimately learned in track though, is that no moment of time is wasted because every second counts.