Personal Narrative: Haverford High School Race

The second I was on the field I knew my team had the game won. All I could see around me was a group of men ready for war. I couldn’t be more ready for my last home opener so after I did what I do when the unexplainable happens, accept it. I ran to the 45 to the 35 to the 20, hoping to find the kick returner. 8 months waiting for this moment all the sweat, pain, 100 degree sun beaming UV rays to my face.

Possession was the one thing on everyone’s mind. Time was evaporating, the other team and their fans started to get optimistic. The buzzer announced the end of the competition and the roar from our opponents deafened cries from our team and our fans. We had lost the first game for our program in fourteen years.

But, sure enough, the Tempo Blaze won 12-0. We are going to have to play Tempo Blaze. As soon as we got to the fields and starting to warm up we were all scared. They are all bigger, stronger, taller, and faster. They are in 7th grade, but 2 of them play Varsity for Tea High School.

The cheers from the crowd and teams, and the adrenaline pumping through our veins. The chalk lines are drawn, the field has been dragged, its time to play now. Nobody knew about the pressure we felt for that game. Not because we weren 't confident, because we were. It was because we knew that the people around us, including the coaches, didn’t believe we could do it.

Bur what do I know? On that day, from absolute confidence to absurd despair, I stared at every other team mates, looking at how they justifiably obtained their symbols of "recognitions from the coach, and left me there hanging, empty-handed, till there 's no one else left but me and the coach

Even though we lost, that final moment that I jogged off the field, every one of my teammates smiled, and gave me a high five. As I gathered my things, I went over to my family. “You did an amazing job for your first time!” They all say in unison. Making it seem like it was rehearsed.

Despite the newspapers and previews saying we would not contend for the state title that year, I kept in my head that anything could happen. Going into the year I told our team “lets focus on what we can do to improve, and not worry about anyone else”. At the beginning, other teams were too strong for our inexperienced runners to compete with, but we didn’t change the focus. Practice after practice, I made sure we were doing everything we could to be at our best for the end of the year. I didn’t care what other teams were doing because we had no control over that.

As a student athlete, I have learned to use failure as an opportunity to learn. The moments in which I have "failed" have only helped me grow and reflect on the mistakes that not only I have made, but also those made by others. I was forced to do this multiple times throughout my final season of high school field hockey. Even though the team had players who were devoted and had a true desire to win, the season ended as a losing record in the books. As the primary goalie and captain, this was extremely difficult to accept.

During my final year of Cross Country around Regionals at Oglethorpe, I ran my final race for my high school career. Banks County was nearly number one in the State, the furthest we had ever ranked in history, and spirit and hopes for State Championship were high. I was nervous, like nobody’s business, I had messed up during my senior night because I was upset for my parents for not showing up and escorting me. And I was scared that I was going to do horribly. But as I ran, I realized that if I let my past mistakes and failures hold me back or get in my way, so I ran, harder and better than I ever had before and apparently even beat a “skinny kid”.

As I ran across the finish line for the last time I could not help but smile; all the memories and lessons learned from my years on cross country and track flashed before my eyes. Salem Cross Country and Track has impacted and shaped me into a leader, friend, daughter, and student. The competition and friendship I found on the cross country and track team is amazing and has aided me in personal growth. The challenge of running is something that I have learned to cherish the most during my years as a high schooler as it taught me to always work hard.

High school was a roller coaster ride for me, from the endless fun of parties to the minor breakdowns and panic attacks that would land myself in the hospital. The pressure and stress got to me and the fact that failing out of the school that I’ve been going to for twelve years with long life friends was coming to an end. Now that I look back at it though it might have been the best decision for my well-being because then I would of not been able to meet the people that I met at Chamblee Charter High School. You would think moving from a private to a public school would be a big cultural shock, you are very correct. Atlanta International School, which was the school I went for basically my whole life, was a very open minded, well rounded, and accepting establishment since the most of the students where from all over the world.

The boys dressed in their sharp dressed suits with their hair slicked back. As the homecoming came to an end the pep rally was beginning the crowd was boisterous than usually something was in the air it was a win coming our way. Ever one could tell the football boys could feel it to it was a tremendous feeling that ever one would hope that would last forever.

As there were ten minutes before the game we kept on doing the drills until I heard my coach announcing the starting lineup. I heard my name being announced so I prepared myself to go to the field. I could already see the trophy as it was in a table. As I walked in the field I could smell the trimmed grass and could hear my teammates say “we got this.”

When I started Unity High School I thought that it was going to be boring school because my first choice was Skyline but my mom made me come to this school so I had to obey what my mom wants because she takes care of me and helps me with whatever I need help with so going to the school that she wanted me to go to was the least I could have done. I thought that high school was going to be difficult because the work that my brother would bring home when he was in high school looked really hard and I did not understand most of the work he needed to complete. But I realized that I need to be taught the material before I go on and do the work

Logan, Logan. " Sports in the 1970 's." N.p., 14 May 2014. Web. 12 Dec. 2015. Seeberg, Timothy J., and Jim Gigliotti.