Personal Narrative: My Main Event In Track And Field

Robert Brault once said “where the loser saw barriers, the winner saw hurdles”. Ever since my junior year of high school this has been my modus operates in life and sports. My main event in Track and Field is the 300 meter, you guessed it, hurdles. However, simply devoting myself to live by this “code” was not enough; actions spoke louder than words in May 2015 when, leading my heat of the race, I clipped my trail leg on the second to last hurdle and was forced down into the track at 20 mph. I didn’t get up, I laid on the track in a ball of self-loathing, anger, and pain. I never finished that race, and to this day that is one of my only regrets.
I didn't finish not because I was embarrassed, but because I had a lapse in character. I have

always believed that giving up is the coward’s way out of things. No matter how hard things get, you need to persevere through because it will make you a stronger person. I developed these beliefs on my own, my parents didn’t have to drill them into me like a plank of wood. As I learn new things and validate their reliability, I add them into my never ending plethora of lessons and quotes, such as Robert Brault’s quote about hurdles. I think discovering things on your own is more important than being told them. If you are given the chance to learn something from an actual experience, you develop a strong emotional attachment to the situation, rather than it just being words that you've been told or read. When you can apply what you’ve learned in other situations in a different context, I think it shows true growth, understanding, and makes you more diverse as a person.
When you grow up in a small northwestern town where 87% of people identify as white, finding diversity in anything is difficult. As a young child, up until the age of 10, I didn't have hobbies. I didn’t even have friends. Staying at home and watching tv or coloring and playing with our family cats was my idea of fun. However, when my family just one day decided to uproot our traditions and move to Hawaii, I was forced to change. Everything I had grown up with and learned was basically thrown out the window of a Boeing 747. I had to acclimate to new weather, new food, and new people. Unbeknownst to me at the time, this literal and metaphorical change in the weather would cause me to thrive. I started speaking up and acting in community theater, even taking singing and dancing lessons. My base interest in science, specifically Biology rose to new heights as I was surrounded by pristine jungles and crystal clear water. Most importantly, I found a love for sports, and Track and Field.
“To excel in athletics is not difficult if one has a temperament, and apparently I have a temperament”. This is a line from one of my favorite musicals of all time, the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. The character who sings this, Marcy Park, is someone I identify with strongly. Essentially, she never feels adequately challenged. As Senior Class President, President of 2 clubs, officer of 2 others, and Captain of two varsity sports, I often feel like sometimes I rest on my laurels. Don’t get me wrong, I am challenged in school and especially sports, but I am always looking for the next thing that I can do to push myself and learn. The next trial to cross of my list is college, and I’m ready to dive in headfirst. I need a real test, a higher hurdle that will take real effort and strength to overcome, and that hurdle is college. This time, if I fall, I’m gonna get up.