Work Hard for What You Love by Olivia

Work Hard for What You Love by Olivia - February 2017 Scholarship Essay

The sport of running and I have had a bipolar relationship. Not only is running my favorite hobby, but it has also taught me many lessons. These lessons, although hard to cope with over the years, are essential to my love of running. No matter what pain or despair I am left with after a hard workout or a race; I always seem to find a way back to my passion of running. The lessons I have learned through running are uncountable and I know for a fact that my life would be incomplete if I didn’t have the chance to lace up my sneakers everyday.

I joined the cross country team at Poly in 9th grade. I was on running clubs in the past and had already realized my deep passion for long distance running. I came to the Poly cross country team with two other freshmen who also ran with me on track clubs. The three of us dominated every race and I always went home happy with the delightful reality of a new personal record. Eventually, my sophomore year rolled around and after the first Moore League race, I finished last on the varsity team for Poly. I was moved out of varsity for the next Moore League meet. This was devastating to me because I had never imagined that my season would begin this way. However, although I was upset with my performance, I knew that there was a possibility that I could get a varsity worthy time and be placed back onto the top 7 team after the next meet. After a strong week of training, the next race was there before I knew it. I ended up winning the race. However, I failed to receive a time that would place me back on to the top 7. The devastation struck again. I knew that the reason I didn’t receive the time I wanted was not because I wasn’t trying; it was because I somehow wasn’t preforming at my full potential. I was letting my mind control all of the hard physical work I had been putting into every practice.

After giving myself some time to reminisce about my disappointment after my race, I started looking towards the next and preparing with a positive attitude. The following race would be my last chance to try to get onto the top 7 again before CIF began. Therefore, to prepare for this race, I did something that I had never done before. I typed up a paper with inspiring quotes and words of encouragement. I studied this paper every single day, all the way up to the race. I kept a confident, positive attitude everyday at practice and by the time of the race everything had fallen into place. I not only received a varsity top 7 worthy time, but I also ran better than ever in CIF. That year was the first year that the girls Poly cross country team ever made it to the State Championship and I am proud to say that I was on that team.

This time period in my life was no doubt one of the most stressful. It was also extremely tough, mentally, to build myself back up again after consecutively preforming at a level I wasn’t proud of. However, I think that the worst part about it overall was that I was comparing myself to a previous me, a me that hadn’t experienced a growth spurt, who wasn’t assigned nearly as much homework, and who never experienced disappointment. Despite all of these disappointments, if I could go back to any year of high school I would choose my sophomore year. Without the hardships and learning experiences that this year presented, I would never be where I am today. That year taught me to turn disappointment into motivation and keep a positive mentality for every race to come, being that it would provide me with another chance to improve my running. I have learned to apply this attitude to my everyday life as well. If I ever doubt myself in any facet of my life, I think back to that year of hardship, hard work, and eventual success; if I can muster through that I know I can do anything.