I was ten when I wanted to prove to myself that school work and daily obligations didn’t define me. I wanted to feel like I could be good at things outside of school. Being fresh out of elementary school made me eager to try new things. From cooking club to garden club, I joined everything, but I left feeling like I wanted to be a part of something bigger. I wanted to be physically challenged. I remember walking down the hall one day and seeing a running club flier. The flimsy paper with silly running cartoons drew me in like a moth to a flame.

The first day of practice consisted of running hill repeats. While I was running, I thought that I was going to die. The hills slowly turned into what felt like mountains that were impossible to climb, but that didn’t stop me from finishing the run. The feeling of running felt foreign and my joints were stiff from never running before. After the first day of practice, I told my coach that I didn’t want to run anymore because it was too hard. He reassured me that I am still young and will have years of training ahead of me. He also said that if I didn’t want to pursue running then I didn’t need to show up for practice the next day. I went home that night so sore that walking up the stairs was difficult. I questioned if joining the club was the only way I could be physically challenged. I decided to show up the next day because what kind of person would I be if I quit after the first day? I continued to show up day after day to prove to myself that I could do hard things. I ended up joining the cross country team in the fall because I realized I love to run.

Fast forward to high school, I had really fallen in love with running, but I was nervous about joining a new team that I didn’t know. My freshman year of high school was the fall of 2020, during COVID, and classes were remote, but sports were still in-person as long as everyone wore masks. I was also worried that I would be discriminated against by my teammates, because of my Asian background. I saw many people across the country discriminate against Asian Americans, blaming them for COVID. Although I was never discriminated against, in the beginning I felt like I didn’t belong on the team. It wasn’t because of my teammates, it was more of self doubt and not knowing if I was going to contribute to the team.

Sophomore year was when I had my first break though during a race that proved to myself that I belonged. It was a home meet against nearby schools: 2.84 miles around a park. Our top runner was sick that day. No one was motivated to run. But I believed we could win if we all tried our best, and if we didn't then we still would lose knowing we tried. I was determined to have an A+ day to prove to my team that we could do it together. During the race, I caught up to our top runner and we ran together for a little bit. Then during the last mile she told me to go ahead without her. It was my time to shine, I ended up setting a new personal best of 18 minutes.

After that race,  my personal best times came rolling in. My 5K times went from 25 minutes to 20 minutes. I quickly rose to be a runner that was recognized by other athletes and coaches, as someone to lookout for while in a race. My senior year of high school was when I came to really appreciate the sport. From when I used to fear talking to my teammates, now I was cheering them on. My teammates become my second family. From talking everyday on runs with my teammates, to tired muscles and heavy breathing during workouts, I will never regret showing up the next day.

© Serena. All rights reserved. If you are interested in quoting this story, contact the national team and we can put you in touch with the author’s teacher.