Senior Stories: Darryl Hernandez, Doing Better

Meet Darryl!

Darryl recently graduated from Banning High School, and he plans to attend California State University, Dominguez Hills come fall. He has run five LA Marathons, and he is a recipient of the SRLA Scholarship. Read more about how SRLA helped Darryl achieve his goals.

Darryl and his SRLA team.

When I was a freshman in SRLA, I had many senior friends who were college bound. My friends taught me the importance of keeping my grades up throughout high school along with influencing me to not be afraid to ask questions in class when a topic got confusing. This lesson taught me to set a new goal for myself, which was to break out of my shy shell and ask more questions. Ever since then, I have been a very open person never backing down from a question or idea to ask as I will always learn something new.

“SRLA taught me to value patience. Hard work pays off. ”

After running five LA marathons, I have constantly learned to have patience in life. When I submitted my first college applications I was so excited to see if I would get into my dream school, California State University, Dominguez Hills. Fast forward to January 2020, many of my friends were already getting accepted into different schools. However, I was still waiting on my response. After weeks of being patient, the wait was worth it because I was accepted!

Also, SRLA has continually taught me the importance of commitment. Once you sign up to run your first 5K in October, you are committing to a half-year goal of running 26.2 miles in March. Many people don’t make it or just give up. This made me realize how committed you must be once you are at the eighteen mile starting line. SRLA is not just about running, but about setting long term goals for yourself and challenging yourself to be better.

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