3B: When the going gets tough, the tough get going.

When most people look at me for the first time they just see a girly girl with blonde hair, but there is much more to me than that.  What people don’t see is that I’ve always been very athletic.  I participated in many sports growing up:  gymnastics, dance, softball, and track.  After hurting my back and not being able to tumble anymore I joined my high school track team.  This was one of the best decisions I have ever made.  Even though I was new to the sport my freshman year I gave it my all.  On the first day of practice my coach handed out goal sheets, where each girl had to write down their personal goals for the season.  I remember writing down that I wanted to try high jumping and that I wanted to break my personal running goals.  Every day after school I changed into my running sneakers and willingly stepped out onto the track and gave it my all. I even woke up early Saturday morning for practices.  I improved every day and even learned how to high jump.  Track is something that makes me happy.  Most people say “running is so boring” or “running hurts”.  I agree with both of those things… but when I am running I don’t think of it as “boring”, I think of it as a time to clear my head.  All my worries go away and I just focus on what I have to get done.  And yes, running definitely hurts, but I love feeling my body get stronger and faster.  High jumping is a whole different story, it doesn’t clear my head, it actually makes me think.  At the end of my senior year season my coach wrote me a letter, in this letter he said he always noticed how I set goals for myself and took them seriously.  He commented on how I would always ask questions on how to improve my high jumping techniques and I always wanted to better myself.  

I think it was easy to motivate myself because I always had a goal to accomplish.  I think I can apply the mindset I had at track to my college education if I set goals for myself.  I need to have a feeling of accomplishment when I get things done.  In the future I can make goals like reaching deadlines for homework, maintaining a high GPA, and getting into the childhood education program.  I can also ask questions on how to improve, just like I did with high jumping.  By setting these goals I can push myself to reach them, just like I did at track.  When the going gets tough, the tough get going!