What’s Your Greatest Achievement?

Throughout my entire life, overcoming a lot of challenges has always given me a certain degree of satisfaction. However, it was my passion for track and field that provided me with the greatest satisfaction among all the challenges I have faced so far.

My high school track career basically started during my freshmen year at John Cooper School in Texas. Initially, I did not take the sport very seriously because I was preoccupied with other things such as  my academics, a big drama production, and other sports such as volleyball and soccer.

Moreover, I thought that my school, being a college preparatory institutions, were not as competitive in sports as compared to public schools. Nevertheless, I always enjoyed competing at various sports events during my freshmen and sophomore year at the school. However, when my parents informed me that I would be transferring to a public school nearby, I was filled with mixed emotions.

I was first hesitant because I would leave behind all my friends and all the extracurricular activities I was involved in. However, I was also excited to try out and hopefully compete in a more serious and competitive athletic program that this new school would offer.

Generally, adjusting the environment of a new school was not difficult for me since my family was constantly moving from one place to another due to my father’s work in an oil company. In short, I was used to seeing new people and new things.  However, what stood out about my new school was its seemingly unmatched athletics department. During that time, the school’s sports program was unlike anything I have ever seen before.

To finally satisfy my excitement,  I enrolled in the track class during the offseason period which signaled the start of my fruitful journey. As I expected, the training was very rigid and at the same time, very extensive. It consisted of long hours of running on the track, running with weights on your back, doing various exercises up and down a steep hill, working on field events, and lastly tough weight lifting workouts after school.

During my first weeks in training, I was already disheartened and I wanted to quit. I knew it was going to be hard but I had no idea it was more difficult than i expected. Moreover, the seasonal changes in weather was never a factor during our training as we ran when it was freezing cold, scorching hot,  raining hard, and even during the Christmas break and certain public holidays.

To top it all, my track coach was a very strict but encouraging man who accepted no excuses from anyone. For him, it’s either we do it or we don’t. Despite all the difficulties I faced, I was determine to prove to my coach and, more importantly, to myself.

I found that all my hard work and perseverance paid during our  first practice meet when I was informed that I was officially a member of the Woodlands High school varsity track and field team. This was a great accomplishment for as I literally went through the eye of the needle just to make the cut.

 From then on, I was on a roll. Not only did I set personal records in the 100m, 200m, 4 by 1 and 4 by 2 relays, but I also help set a school record in the 4 by 2 relay race and 3rd in the school records for both the 100m and 200m dash.

I was also both honored and privileged  to participate in Texas Relays at the University of Texas, which is considered as the most prestigious high school track meet competition. In addition, I also competed in the the District Championship where I won one gold medal in the 200m dash and 2 silver medals in the 100m dash and 4 by 1 meter relay.

However, among all the competitions I have participated in, the most significant and most fruitful one was the Regional Championships at Waco Baylor. Although I wasn’t able to qualify for the next level which was the State Championships,  I felt a surge of satisfaction as I passed the finish line of my last event because I knew in my heart that I had fulfilled my goals and surpassed the expectations that I have set when I first joined the varsity during training.

My achievements became complete when I was awarded most valuable sprinter of the year and appointed as captain of the girls track team in our Principal’s Leadership counsel the next year.

Even though I didn’t reach the highest competitive level, which is the State Championships,  I still glad that I chose not to quit when times were rough and instead kept on pushing and moving forward. Personally, making the varsity alone was a highly significant accomplishment for me, so to win in extremely competitive events where the very good athletes were also competing was not only a monumental achievement but also a blessing.

More importantly, however, I believe that the most important aspect of all the lessons I have learned and all the achievements I have made so far is my over-all growth. For the better part of my life,  I have been running and running just to reach that finish line and accomplish my goal. Looking back, however, I realized that in my journey so far, it is not always the destination that is important.

What’s important is the people I have met who made a considerable impact on my life and have contributed to my growth and more importantly, the experiences I have gained as I struggled and worked hard to fulfill my tasks.

In short, I realized that it in reality, in was not the State Championships that was mattered most, rather, it was the significant events such as the long hours I spent to improve myself and the extremely tedious training  hours I went through and also the people such as my coach who taught me the value of hard work and perseverance, my family who never failed to support me in all my endeavors, and my friends who were always there for me when I needed them most.

These are things that mattered most. Personally, to have these experiences under my belt and to have these people by my side as I go further in my career as a track and field varsity player is my greatest achievement in life so far other than winning medals in competitions.