A loud bang filled the air and everyone charged. “You got this Vanessa” was what I said to myself while my whole body was shivering with goosebumps all over. I felt a big cold slap in the face as the sharp wind blows through my tank top and shorts. I climbed endlessly up the mountain while my lungs desperately grasped for air. Suddenly, my right foot lost its grip. I felt an immense amount of gravity pulling me downward as I slid like a rollercoaster descending from its peak. I fell on the ground and held my right knee as it bleeds. Like a scene from a drama where the protagonist fights the antagonist, the same battle happened in my mind. One part of me said “just give up and stop running” while the other said “keep going! You’re almost done.” After a short battle, I slowly rose from the ground and tried to run again. I saw my blood oozing downward, staining my clean gray sneakers. Luckily, the cold wind quickly dried the blood and soon my knee stopped bleeding. Memories of my teammates and I training together rushed through my mind and I knew I just couldn’t let them down.The word “run!” was endlessly repeated until I raced passed the finish line with the every …show more content…
The whole team has been training for months just for this one race. I clearly remember how I would always be the last one to run back to the meeting spot during summer practices. It was my first year on the team officially after joining just for fun in the spring, when practices were much less intense. Instead of making me feel discouraged, I strived to get faster and I did. It was only when cross country ended was when I realized I really love running. I felt like something was missing. I remember I would always complain about having to go to practice, but deep down I knew if I didn't go I would never improve. The sense of fulfillment I get everyday whether it be after practice or races is incomparable to anything I’ve ever experienced in my
I am now officially in my Senior year of Cross Country , and am close to the end of my season. My first race of this year though was a big accomplishment for me, because I hadn`t been able to run. When I ran that race though it made me just so happy I was able to finish it, I was`nt happy with the time, but there is always time for improvement. I was glad to be racing again and being apart of the team again. I believe that my injuries were a barrier in my way, but they did not stop my sports career.
I signed up to run track in the spring and went to summer conditioning for cross country. That’s when my coaches, teammates, and myself noticed that my running has improved significantly from when I first started. I knew that I had to work hard my senior year to achieve my goals for running. Running is a mental sport. The workouts I had to do were brutally painful and I had stay positive throughout the run because I know the training I had to do will help me during a race.
The biological understanding of race in the United States is that people from different places have different genetics and genes in their body, accounting for different traits in each people. These people could be grouped together by their biological traits because their similarities in genes would make them look alike. People wanted to believe that there actually were true biological differences between people. Race in the past and present (somewhat) has been categorized based on continental origin, skin color, nose structures, and hair type. To define a person’s race, someone could ask questions like: “what type of hair do they have, curly or straight? Is their skin dark or light? Are their eyes blue, brown, or black?” Based off of these
The many faces of race and ethnicity are such a large and broad subject, It is dominant in my family and my experiences. It was many years before I knew that I was in what would be considered a subordinate group or a minority of a group of people. Race was never discussed in my family. I was never told that I was less or better than another group or race of people. At the ages of eight and nine years old, my sister and I had no idea that when the cashier waited on the European lady who came in behind us first, was being prejudice and discriminatory. We didn’t know for some time, until we were older. It may seem odd but that is it the way it was in our neighborhood which was 99 percent black. There was one White/Native-American family. This family was not treated any differently than anyone else in the neighborhood. All seven of the children from this amalgamated couple, married into the African-American race. Coincidently, I just found out recently that the mother, who recently passed away, of this family was actually an Eskimo. I am not one who likes to stereotype a race or group of people but looking back and
I joined my school’s cross country team in the summer. At the beginning we performed pre-season workouts. The training was tough, but my proud personality and the very thought of what I had to gain kept me motivated and helped me push through the pain. Every time I felt like giving up or quitting, I would say to myself, “This pain is only temporary; remember that the reward will be permanent, and it will be worth the pain that I endure today.” I was able to push through the
I am not completely aware of race, however, I do see the world as we are there is very probable that I hold bias’s both within the Caucasian racial identity and outside of it as well. On the other hand, gender has been a predominate factor in my life, I have resisted the stereotypes of most female oriented jobs. I worked in factories as soon as my eighteenth birthday, I worked two jobs most of the time and never relied on a male for any support, I joined the Army, as the first female in my family to join the military. Also, choosing physically demanding employment opportunities. However, in the realm of income, I was always behind male counterparts, passed up for promotions, or laid-off first. Although, my paperwork always bragged about being
Of the more than twenty million Americans who are running today, most who start do so for the wrong reasons, with the wrong attitude, and tend to lose interest after a few weeks or months. Many quit. This is usually because they become concerned with superficial goals such as time and distance and never discover the more profound mental benefits that running offers. (Lilliefors 15)
Racism was everywhere and it wasn’t just the adults who saw it, or felt it, but young children as well. I thought everyone was created equal. That we weren't all that different. That no one was judged. I thought I was right, but I realize I couldn't have been more wrong. I was born the daughter of Presbyterian missionaries. My parents had named me Pearl Sydenstricker Buck and I spent virtually half my life in China.
America is a country that is builds on a foundation of equality and freedom for all. Yet this is the idea that everyone gets that all citizens obtain the same education and treatment. Yet the system is racist because it integrally ideas to the old ways in which racism were the way of life. Even though this country was construct by slave and that still has a shadow in this society. America is full of many mix ethic cultures and background.
When thinking about the statement "race is not a simple matter of skin color, but a socially constructed category" you may think what does this mean? I think it's important to understand what a minority group is first. A minority group is a category of people who have unequal access to positions of power, prestige, and wealth in a society and those who tend to be targets of prejudice and discrimination. Minority status is not based on numerical representation in society but rather on a social status.
As the season progressed, competition started getting fiercer. I was up against girls running at a 5A level, yet, I was able to hold my own. Finally there came a tiny light at the end of the tunnel; it seemed as though I was getting closer and closer to accomplishing my goal. Along with my undefeated title came a huge target painted on my back. I religiously checked "Rocky Preps" every day to see if the competition was gaining on me. It seemed that every time I had improved, there was someone right behind me, running their personal best too. I trained during the weeks before regionals like I had never trained before. Each day my stomach became more twisted with knots that looped around every part of my stomach. I don't think I had ever been that nervous in my whole life.
Wait. Be still. Don't go over the line. Don't let go. Wait for it. "BANG!" My reactions were precise as I sprung out of the blocks. The sun was beating down on my back as my feet clawed at the blistering, red turf. With every step I took, my toes sunk into the squishy, foul smelling surface, as my lungs grasped for air. Everything felt the way it should as I plunged toward my destination. I clutched the baton in my sweaty palms, promising myself not to let go. My long legs moved me as fast as I could go as I hugged the corner of the line like a little girl hugging her favorite teddy bear. The steps were just like I had practiced. As I came closer to my final steps, my stomach started twisting and my heart beat began to rise. The different colors of arrows started to pass under my feet, and I knew it was time.
Racism is round the world and I know it because it had happened to me. Christian have to deal with racism for my culture. People just say things just to hurt you because they do know what are they doing or causing you. I think all christians had happened racism just because you believe in different things. It was a saturday morning were church goes as a group to predicar about the word of God. I pass through a apartment with my bible in my hands and hear a mom telling his kids saying to them that I was stupid because I believed in something that it was not real because we can seen it and I came to her I gave her a flyer and she told me that I looked so stupid dressed how I was and for being a christian, I tried to talk about the bible to
My body got cold for the first time in seven years. I was scared of a two-minute routine that I had practiced a thousand times. When I stepped onto the stage, I could feel my heart as it rapidly pumped. I was scared, as we set for the routine. The first task to complete was a standing tumbling. “Come on Michelle, jump!” I screamed inside my head. “You have to pull your legs around.” I landed. “Good, next was running tumbling.” As I moved to the next spot to start my running tumbling, everything seemed to move in slow motion. I was the last tumbler to go. “six…five…four…three…two…one” It was my turn. My legs started to run; my hands hit, then my feet. So far, I was okay.
My journey of a lifetime began on October 21. It was the biggest race of the season, the Schaeffer’s Oil Iron-Man Championship race at Blue Ridge Motorsports Park. I drive a race car, named Speed, in the Super Late Model class. I win most of my races, which makes me a big target for the other drivers. This race is a $3500 to win race.