I don’t actually plan on going into journalism once I graduate high school. I’ve always struggled with not being good at the things I enjoyed and then being good at things I don’t have a huge passion for. The closest I got to finding something that checked both of those boxes was writing. Specifically writing for absolutely anything sports related – sports journalism. That was it, my plan. I figured I could be decent at it and wouldn’t mind pursuing a career in it for the rest of my life. Then came the questions and grilling. Adults always asking, “So what job do you want to have?” or “Where is that job going to take you and what do you want it to do for you?”, and then one day somebody asked me why. “Why do you want to write?”. I couldn’t come up with an answer. That’s how I knew I wasn’t going to write for the rest of my life. I have so much respect for good writers and I enjoy it myself, but I was finally able to decide that it wasn’t truly a career I saw myself in.

I do also play a sport. I’ve run three years so far for our high school track and field team and it’s the most incredible experience. The connections that you make with people from the long meets and cold practices together are something so valuable that it’s hard to express. The thought of next year being our last together is almost crippling. I really don’t know who I would be without running and the people I met through it so it will always be a little part of any personal statements or pieces I write.

I may not become a writer but writing will always be apart of me and act as an outlet for all of the stories that I’ll experience and collect as I keep getting older.