Personal Narrative: A Career In An Athletic Team

Although I had only participated in the school Cross Country team for two years, I felt very connected to the team and wish I had participated my sophomore and freshmen year as well. Over the two seasons, I have made many great friends and learned the importance of working hard to achieve my goals. Throughout my life, my parents have pushed me academically, but never really encouraged me to try hard in sports or physical activities. Cross country filled that void for me and helped me become a more well-rounded person.

Growing up, I was never one to play sports. My coordination and overall athletic skill was never where I wanted it to be. But the idea and spectacle of watching and learning about sport was always something that amazed me. To this day, sport is a driving force that connects me with both my friends and family. When it came time for me to apply for college, I was one of the few seventeen year olds that had a pretty clear idea of what I wanted to do. Sport Management was a perfect match for me because a majority of sport managers today, were not super star athletes, and some were not even athletes. I also knew that going into the sports industry with no playing experience, along with being a female, I was at a disadvantage. Immediately, I knew that I had to find ways to move myself ahead of the pack. In order to achieve that goal, my two goals were getting my degree, and getting as much work experience in the industry.

In physical education we were put to do the mile I was always second to last if not last I wasnt made fun of but I didnt really good about myself. As the years went on I was still fat couldn’t do anything until sophomore year of high school is where it all changed. I remember it quite clearly as if it was yesterday I was sitting in my math class when one of classmates had large number pinned to his bag and a uniform on that hadn’t seen before. That's when I got curious and asked what sport was all this for he then explained it was for cross country and that I should join it would be fun. It turns out that the season was about to end so it was to late to join so I had to wait for next year so I did. I went my junior in the summer since that's when they practiced and ran for the first time. After this first run I thought I was going to literally die and didn't want to this any more and to top it off all the guy runners who I thought that were slow beat one by one. This is where I decided I wasn't going to be last or lose a race to anyone. I practiced the whole year and did track top it off. Now the summer of my senior year was very motivational since I got up early ran and did this everyday till school started to be the best of my high school. Well the season would begin and I was breaking my school records and receiving medals from invitationals and

For 2 years I was a member of the Central Toronto Athletic Club. CTAC is a competitive middle distance running club that trains its athletes to compete in track and field and cross country events. It is a year round athletic club that is a platform for talented people of almost all ages to train and to focus on their self-progress as an athlete. At CTAC I was encouraged to push myself to test the limits of my speed, endurance and strength and to discover what my body is truly capable of. Running was a very satisfying sport because my achievements were directly proportional to the amount of work that I put in. At CTAC, I learned discipline, dedication and perseverance. I had to balance my schoolwork with daily practices or workouts, I ran six

I was a late-comer to athletics. So when the distance coach recruited me in tenth grade, it was a pleasant surprise to be half decent. I was deemed the most improved cross country runner in the nation, dropping six minutes for a 4K, landing me in my first state race. I have since been a contributing part of my varsity team. I have been All-Conference and All-Section for the past three years. This past year, my cross country team won state and nationals. I, myself, was runner-up in the team division at nationals. In Track and Field, I also competed at state. Running has become a huge part of my life, teaching me many lessons, especially that there is always room for

The reason behind that was I realized that when most athletes came out they were afraid of what is in store for them in the future. Some come out the first week and quit, but there are others who tried this for the first time and stay there for the rest of the season. But the reason why they stayed was because of the support I gave them, the encouragement they got and most importantly the self-confidence they obtained over the course of the season. There were times where an athlete came out and they were nervous of the fact that there were others around them that were much faster. But I always kept telling them it's not about who is the fastest or who made varsity, but it's about who is willing to do whatever it takes to better

My Stuyvesant experience was not traditional in the sense of picking a couple of clubs and sports in freshman year and sticking with them throughout your high school career. I was hesitant in joining clubs, but when I did I joined the Girls’ Outdoor Track and Field team. I was by no means exceptional at it, but I found a great group of friends I would stay in contact with throughout high school. Track also helped me cultivate a spirit of will and determination. Though I ended up leaving track, I don’t think I would be as strong-willed without it.

I joined my first team when I was one month old. Yes, one month. I guess I didn’t quite provide a huge impact on the Georgia College Baseball team but I was a great mascot. For my whole life, my home has been wherever my dad could coach. We’ve traveled to many different states, colleges, and fields so my dad could pursue his dream career. Because of this, I've learned my love for the game and the importance of a team. When I turned four, I transitioned from being a collegiate baseball bat girl to being an actual batter. When I turned 8, my parents realized I was the last girl left in the baseball league and decided that it might be time to switch to softball. Ever since, I’ve been on many different teams learning how to improve as a person

Little did I know, at the time, that the sport I was reluctant to join would soon become an escape for me. As a sophomore in high school, two friends, who were runners, invited me to join cross country. I was hesitant, but eventually remembered my father’s advice that I should try new things, and decided to join. Running became my new hobby; I found myself not only running for the team, but for my own personal joy. What made running so engaging to me was the sense of accomplishment I got when I successfully completed my workout. This may sound odd, but while going through this tiring activity, I typically ended up happy.

As I began my freshman year of high school, I felt compelled to join a sport. I wanted to try something new since I played basketball, baseball, and soccer growing up. So, I decided to join the cross country team. I thought running would be as natural and effortless as it was in other sports. Never had I been more wrong.

This past week has been a struggle trying to focus on the present, caused by the stress of the future. The big question that determines what environment to live in, concerns me through my interests. I was positive about my decision to play ball through my university years, I was committed to become part of a larger and more challenging team. The question wasn’t really a question because I finally knew what I wanted to do with the next 6 years, do you want a scholarship? Are you committed? Do you know your duties of participating on a university team? Are you sure that you want to play and get an education in the U.S.?

Typically a loud place for me was momentarily quiet as we were in the sixth inning of our regional final game. I was so focused I stopped hearing the buzzing sound of the consistent mosquitoes buzzing in my ear. It was game time. This was our second try to get to state and win the regional final. This was a goal in the back of everyone's mind. Sixth inning two outs and the title was ours. This was our year, our game. Ranked number one in the conference made going into this game a little more nerve racking. Favored to win had all of my teammates trembling in the hands and weak in the knees. Our pitcher threw a great game, our bats were consistent, the dugout was outstanding. We were digging deep to win the game.

This is my story as an All-Star cheerleader. Everything was fantastic. We had been qualifying to compete in the World Championships, year in and year out. Then it all changed. We lost a few competitions in a row and it seemed everyone had turned on me. The practices became dreadful. The coaches I looked up to and trusted for years, were now ridiculing my every move, making me think I was a terrible athlete. This was difficult for me to wrap my head around, since I knew deep in my soul that it was not true. Even worse, everything snowballed. My friends and teammates starting making the same remarks by whispering behind my back and tormenting me in the group message. “You’re so dumb Karlee, it is all your fault we lost,” and “All

    Before I joined athletics, I was always just a lazy slob that would always just sit around, but I would always notice how I was as skinny as a walking stick so I eventually said to myself that I would join athletics. At first I could lift next to no weight and could barely even run a lap around the track, but I slowly but surely got better and better.

As a whole, my family has always carried an interest in personal fitness and athletics throughout their lives. Today, this is thought to be a primary passion of mine however it was not as a child. Growing up, I was urged to participate in athletics but none ever caught my eye. I usually swayed towards musical instruments including the saxophone and piano. However, this all changed the month of November when I participated in The Greensburg Annual Turkey Trot. Although I did the race for pleasure rather than a competition, I had not expected to do so poorly. Out of the three miles, I could hardly finish one without bending over in complete and utter exhaustion. My friend, hardly out of breathe, urged me to keep going as I fell behind. A rush of disappointment and embarrassment came over me as I finished the race, walking the remainder of the way. At the end of the finish line, I came to the conclusion that below mediocrity was unacceptable. I had always pushed myself to the best of my abilities with academics, even in my