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Personal Narrative: My Passion For Track And Field

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My passion for track and field began with a Nike advertisement. At age ten, I opened the newspaper to a two-page spread of the hometown distance running legend Steve Prefontaine overlaid by a paragraph of inspirational copy. It concluded asking, “Where is the Next Pre?” The story of his small town Oregon roots, gutsy racing style, and ambition to be the best resonated with me like nothing ever had before. I told myself I was the next Pre, and then tore off for my first run through the streets of Eugene, Oregon – “Tracktown USA”. Inspired by that moment, I joined a track club and became captivated by the pole vault. The spectacle of flying two stories through the air seemed like the perfect challenge. Despite living in a sport-centric town, no local pole vault coach would teach me at my age. So every week my dad and I drove 2 hours to train at a special club. Through the sport I challenged the limits of both my physical …show more content…

It gave me an identity, a purpose and a community. It was the spark that set me on a path to become the first male in my family to earn a degree and exposed me to the possibility of a professional legal career. This journey is why I believe in the potential for businesses to drive authentic positive change in people’s lives. I’ve lived out this belief through my work experience. After my athletic career, I joined an initiative called Stick jumping. Our team of three people manufactured bamboo poles and developed a common core P.E. curriculum. We taught elementary and middle school students how to use the poles to vault over obstacles. Further, we used this activity to preach a willingness to attempt seemingly difficult tasks and challenge preconceived limits. This initiative culminated in the World indoor track and field championships where we brought 200 students from curriculum adopting schools to the championships for

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Life’s as usual in my life until a date appeared on the calendar. March 9th: Track Team Tryouts. I thought about trying out for the team; and after a silent debate in my head featuring the pros and cons of being on the team, I decided to I’d run again this year. Although I knew I was capable of making the team , I also knew I had to get back in shape. “Let’s turn theses flabs into abdominis then.”

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