College: Saint Louis University

Major: Entrepreneurship and Marketing

Before freshman year, my parents said if I joined cross country, they would buy me an Apple Watch. Naturally, I said yes to that and it was one of the best decisions of my life.

The people I met at cross country became some of my best friends. We helped each other through terrible hill workouts and early morning track practices, while we talked for entire long runs. Let’s be real, running sucks sometimes.  But, the feeling of cheering on a friend to the finish or passing other runners from different teams made it all worth it. The memories we have will last forever and somehow, I still have a love for running. Through shin splints and crappy weather, we all kept going. I will never forget our yap sessions during drills and warm ups. 

There’s also been some important lessons I’ve learned. I used to put too much pressure on races. Eventually, I learned that no matter my time, pace or place, I raced for me, not for anyone else. When I accepted that it was okay to not PR (personal record) every time, it took some of the pressure off and I began to improve myself and enjoy running more. It’s always fun to medal or get a speedy new PR and savor that moment, but make sure not to beat yourself up if it doesn’t go the way you planned. My senior season was my best, in part because I learned that lesson. 

I’m eternally grateful to my coaches, my parents -who showed up to almost every meet- and my friends. My coaches pushed me when I was about to give up. They showed me the value of training hard and advocating for myself. I’m thankful for my parents for listening to me vent about how tough practice was. I’m grateful to my incredible teammates and for being a constant source of encouragement and joy. I plan to continue running in college, not cross country, but just for fun.