Running For-Personal Narrative

I used to be able to run so fast I could fly. Racing through the woods behind my house I was untouchable, unbeatable; I imagined I was a graceful as a fox and as fast as a deer racing over bushes, logs, and ditches. Running served as an escape from the perfect student, perfect manners persona I adopted in the classroom allowing me to break out of my shy shell and go from being ¨the teacher’s pet¨ to ¨the fast girl.¨ My love of running-- as well as my parents-- drove me to play soccer; I ditched my goody two shoes for cleats and never looked back. I could chase down any opponent and outrun any defender, through sports I completely let my boundaries down.

I would consider myself to have been a very committed athlete in high school because I worked my behind off training for every season. Leaving my blood, sweat and tears on the track, not walking off of it until I felt I had accomplished what I set out to do. We don’t just run, we work. We work on speed, endurance, strength and technique. We work on teaching ourselves how running is mostly about mindset rather than a physical thing. We do this exercise where you run a 400 meters telling yourself you’re a brick, sounds kind of dumb, I know. But after you run another 400 meter telling yourself you are feather, telling yourself you’re like Mayweather “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.” Without even realizing it, even after running the first 400 and being dead tired, we realize our times for the second lap were faster than the first! You have to tell your body what to do and be mentally in control so when you’re on your final 200 meters you can push yourself to limits you didn’t know you had. You will find very few track athletes who actually enjoy running themselves to death on a daily basis, but we do it because when you cross the finish and look up and see you name on the score board in a top place, you will want to relive the moment over and over again because it is absolutely priceless. Then when I received the letter telling me I had been offered a scholarship to run and jump at a D1 school, all the hard work I had been putting into this sport over the past four years felt completely worth

I am going to be honest. Generally speaking, I have never been a very political person. When I was younger I didn’t care much about politics and up until a year or two ago the most I knew about politics was a basic idea of the ideas of each party, their symbols, that our president is a democrat, and that there’s a presidential election every four years. But, in the past year that has changed a lot. I turned eighteen, and eighteen is the year, the year we become adults, and the year us new adults gain the right to vote. Gaining this authority gives you a feeling that you don’t quite get when you get your license, or your first job at sixteen. So imagine my initial disappointment when the first election I get to vote in involves Donald Trump. But, as I have experienced the campaign in the past year, that disappointment dissolved and I knew I wanted to share what I picked up on.

My presidential run for office would be based off being truthful. I would tell the United States how the government has been taking money from them and spending it irresponsibly. I want to fix the United States because they fail to use money effectually. There needs to be someone that steps in and fixes the problem. When the people of the U.S. votes me into office that will be my task.

"We all have dreams. In order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline and effort." Running has been a part of my life for four years now and in my short involvement in the sport, it has completely changed the kind of person I am, and the kind of person I want to be. Throughout the past few years, people always ask me "why do you run? What motivates you? And to be honest, I have a variety of reasons for why I am 100% committed and dedicated to being a runner.

The summer before seventh grade my mom and I were talking about school and what sports I was going to play. I knew that I was definitely be playing basketball, but my mom kept bringing up cross-country. She said she thought that I should try it because I have long legs, which is good for running. I always thought running sounded boring because all you do is move one foot in front of another. I decided to still try it because of my mom and because for all I knew it could be something I really enjoy. I didn’t enjoy much then, I didn’t have many hobbies. I did like art, but not that much, I only did it when I was really bored. I loved basketball, but even I knew I was completely horrible at that. No other sports really appealed to me and that is why I was going to give running a chance, because I was desperate for a hobby.

“Cross Country? What do you do, run from South Carolina to California?” I remember asking my brother this when he told me what sport he participated in. I was in seventh grade, but it was past the time I could sign up for it that year; however, the next year I decided to give it a shot. This one decision in middle school shaped the next five years of my life.

Being told I had to perform at a caliber I did not believe I was able to reach was an exasperating process. The inner battles I fought with myself while I ran forced me to question why I ran. With the assistance of my mother and father they told me that what I was doing, no matter how difficult it may be now, would help me in my future. I pushed through the season and grew so fond of running that I joined the cross-country team the following year. My senior year of high school I was voted as the most motivated runner on our team, and even earned a varsity letter for cross-country.

I believe what sets me apart from other candidates is my mind set. I am a very open-minded person. I am open to change and am able to see others point of view. A lot has happen to me in my life where I understand other people's actions. I have seen enough to understand that most people act out on emotions and not reason.

On January 21, 2017 over a million people marched all around the world to protest the election of Donald Trump: his policies and pledges to take away certain rights, and to support the fundamental rights of all humans─specifically women. I was lucky enough to attended the march in D.C., where the streets were flooded with so much love and with voices that could not be ignored. This is the first political march I have ever attended but, will definitely not be the last because of how motivational, unified, and outspoken everybody was.

Running was a part of my life between 2014 and 2016, when I was still a young middle school kid. I tried out for the track team, and I ran for my first time in March. Track and Field was a new experience for me, I had

I am interested in the political process and daily happening that make and effect change, I persevere through challenges both personal and academic, and most importantly I am willing to do the hard work necessary to make the group successful. This aspect is the most important is because a congress has to work as a group to accomplish the goal, and most people are not willing to work for the group goal in a congress setting which is basically what is happening now.

Running is a fairly common task that many of us learn at a young age. We practice running after we master walking as babies or toddlers, chase or get chased by our siblings or enjoy it on the school playground during recess. Then we progress to P.E. class, track and field days or cross country meets. Whether running is a sport we pursue in school or not, it can be a learned fact or hobby that anyone can perform! There are many known benefits of running, and as stated, anyone at any age can learn and enjoy. It has been named the world’s most accessible sport. Running dates back extremely far in history as related to hunting and other religious festivals. While it might look very different in terms of fashions, trends and GPS watches, I believe the form of running probably hasn’t changed.

I decided that track and field could be my breakthrough sport as it was all individual events, except for relays, and the fast-track-runner gene ran in my family. However, the gene seemed to have skipped me. I began to watch my cousins run and successfully win medal after medal, and title after title, as I racked up more participation ribbons for my wall. Track

This year was the very first time I had the opportunity to vote. What an election to choose because of all the division and also importance of the electing the next president. With the electing of supreme court justice members, to the fate of the all the policies Obama has implemented, this was no easy decision for me. I voted with an absentee ballot this year due to the fact that I didn’t live in Provo, and I was as anxious in waiting for this letter to come as I was during my mission waiting for letters. The day it came, I mulled over my choices, and there honestly some people I didn’t know about that I wish knew more about. Some of them I had to trust my parents’ advice with because the candidates that were running in a district I didn’t