Run for Greatness:

Life of a Student Athlete

“Balance is not something you find; it is something you create”. As a

student, it is already challenging for us to manage our time considering the time we
spent at home, doing house chores, assignments, and the time we spent at school,
taking exams, spending many hours at classrooms, projects. How much more if there
would be more responsibility than usual? It will be tough for a student to have too much
responsibility to carry on. But some students actually have other responsibilities other
than in their house or in school, they are called the “Student-Athlete”. I am Nathaniel L.
Leonardo, an 18-year-old student of Monlimar Development Academy, Inc. who is an
example of a student-athlete.
Being a student-athlete is not an easy responsibility. It is actually
double trouble for a student-athlete in any kind of sport because it requires much effort
to succeed. With given only a few months after the tryout to train, we were all worried if
we will make our body in condition before the competition. We didn’t know where or how
to start since we do not have any athletic trainer to build up and condition our body and
we only have our coach, Mr. JoseMari Umali to boost our morale. For the past few
months before the competition, we only searched on the internet and studied what are
the best workouts for an athlete to train ourselves. Each day, we run at least 10
kilometers in the morning and after that, we do the drills and workouts to build up our
muscles. We train hard for a few months, each day with vigorous training. But that is not
the only thing we considered and focused on because as normal students, we also
need to pay attention to our academics. As we devote ourselves to conditioning our
body, we also strived on studying because education is important. On the day of the
competition, when we came to Marikina Sports Center where it was held, I was so
nervous. I had no idea what to expect because it was my first time competing. I played
100-meter dash, 200-meter dash, and 4x400 meter relay. Despite all the hindrances I
faced, I managed to focus and achieve excellence in both my studies and my sport. I
finished Grade 11 with honors and won gold on 4x400 meter relay, silver on 200-meter
dash and we were an overall champion in APSA-TAPAT Athletics. We represent APSA-
TAPAT and proceed to Division Meet but unfortunately, I am the only one who managed
to win bronze on 200-meter dash but I can say that we proudly presented our school
and give pride to it.
I had learned many things on this journey. I learned to be
disciplined, confident, persevered, and developed an indomitable spirit. This is not only
a battle of strength but also a battle of the mind. A battle where giving up has no room.
Whether we win or lose, we are still succeeding because we are learning and this is the
best thing we can hope on every battle we fight.