Senior Stories: Jacqueline, You Got This!

SRLA students are very supportive. I remember during my first 9 mile race, I was on the second loop at Universal Studios. The race felt like it was never going to end. I kept seeing the same things again and again and all I wanted to see was the finish line. After a while, I just started walking. As soon as I began to walk, I felt a tap on my shoulder along with “Come on! Don’t start walking now. You can do this! You’re on the final loop.” I looked around expecting to see someone I knew, but she was a complete stranger. She was smiling and waving to signal me to come and run. I didn’t think twice. I just started running, forgetting about the pain and exhaustive state I was in.

This stranger’s encouragement was my motivation to begin to run. I kept running until I had one mile left. If it wasn’t for her kindness, I would be have walked those miles and risked having the flag guy next to me. I really appreciated her support, which really changed my perspective on how much a simple “Come on! You got this!” can help a person. After my first year, I made a commitment to give comments of encouragement to students walking during every race.

If I saw someone who was running and began to walk, I would run up to them and tell them an encouraging statement to keep going because when you enter an exhaustive physical and mental state, all you want to do is go home and lay in your bed. You start asking yourself why did you decide to do this when you could be at home in bed sleeping. Having Students Run LA, a family of students, leaders, and volunteers, shouting their support really changes your mindset. I set a goal to be more supportive and motivate students to keep pushing themselves. After setting that goal, I set another goal to run back a mile after finishing a race and help push students to finish. Seeing the happiness in their faces after finishing was the most rewarding experience.

Jacqueline is a 2018 SRLA Scholarship recipient. To make a donation to support future of Students Run LA like Jacqueline as they work towards their goals, click here.