Running into Success by Katherine

Running into Success by Katherine - January 2016 Scholarship Essay

I want to run a half-marathon. Actually, I think that I need to run one. Running a half-marathon was number one on my 2015 New Year’s Resolutions list, and still I have yet to run more than a mile without getting winded. I suppose the need to accomplish this goal stems from a creeping feeling I have been experiencing since the beginning of September, a feeling that has been affectionately coined “senioritis” by high school students. Symptoms include an absence of motivation and a disregard of responsibilities concerning school. This is the “sickness” that I swore I would never catch and the subject of my constant skepticism when hearing upper classmen’s complaints. And yet here I am, struggling to finish basic homework assignments and getting distracted by the articles in the sidebar on Sparknotes. Despite maintaining my GPA, I feel as though I am becoming a less attentive and nonparticipating student. So what does my scholarly affliction have to do with running? Some might say that they have nothing in common, but to me their connection is perfectly clear.
My freshman year English class made me an avid lover of symbols. The infamous conch shell in Lord of the Flies or the ball of yarn in A Tale of Two Cities made me more excited than I care to admit. I like to create symbols in my own life as well, and running a half-marathon has become my latest real-life literary device. I feel a sense of helplessness and discouragement when it comes to my school work, and I suppose I feel the same way about my year-old running goal. In both physical and mental aspects of my life, I feel that I am losing motivation to succeed and the willpower to push through obstacles. I consider both willpower and motivation to be pivotal in a well-led life, and seeing these traits slip away, if only for my senior year of high school, makes me nervous about my impending transition into adulthood. Therefore, I have made the half-marathon my ultimate symbol of success.
Like I sometimes do with schoolwork, I have put this running goal off for a very long time. The longer I put it off, the more discouraged I feel; this is mirrored in my feelings about homework assignments. I believe I feel this way because, in my mind, it is much harder to hope for success when I have already failed to find motivation in the past. That is why running this half-marathon is so important to me. If I can do it, if I can really find it within myself to run 13.1 miles within the next couple of months despite the entirety of 2015 when I all but ignored my resolution and failed to achieve it, then I can do anything; this includes homework and participating in clubs and visiting teachers and being a better, more attentive and organized student. By running this half-marathon, I will see potential within myself again, which is the first requirement necessary in being a good student. I will be more willing to learn and participate in class, and I will stop dreading my responsibilities. How do I know this? Because those are my other New Year’s Resolutions, and if I can complete one, then I can complete them all.