During summer, I had no idea what sports I wanted to do in school. I thought about softball, volleyball, and basketball but I have never been very athletic or coordinated like the rest of my family.

My sister ran cross-country in high school and didn’t like it very much.  I was not sure if I wanted to do it.  I thought, “Well it’s not going to hurt anything if I try it so why not?”   

Our first practice was in July. Once I got there and met the team I already knew I was going to be great friends with all of them. After the first practice, I was already considering quitting. It was awful. The summer heat was melting me while I ran two or three miles. I absolutely hated it but being with everyone and all of us suffering together made it a lot better.
 

When school started practice was at 6:15 A.M., I had to get up at 5:45 every morning to go run a few miles. I also had to get ready for school every morning at school. Being in cross-country really takes a lot of commitment. You have to be willing to sacrifice your sleep to get up before the sun even comes up and go run with your team. As crazy as it may seem, I actually liked getting up early and hanging out with everyone. You also have to be able to give up sleeping in on Saturday morning to go to a meet. The crazy bus rides there and back, hanging out before a race, going to eat with your team makes it all worth it.
   

My first meet. I was a nervous wreck, I had never ran in a race before and I was just hoping I didn’t come in last place. Once the race started I felt better and more confident in myself. I stayed in 8th place almost the whole time until we had about 800 meters left. I was able to pass two girls and get 6th place.  After that race, I was determined to be even better and get better times. Our next meet was at Tyler Lee, it was huge in my race there were about 275 girls. I knew as soon as I got there that I would not be getting a medal but I still wanted to get my personal record. I ended up getting my PR at that race which was 15:08, I placed at every meet except that one.
  

One bad thing about cross-country is that the seniors on the team will be leaving this year and we won’t get to run together anymore. I’m just glad I got to run this year with them, our team has made so many memories this year that we will never forget. I can honestly say that joining cross country was one of the best decisions I have made, and I will definitely be running again next year and all of my following years of high school. We are not just a team, we are a life-long family.