I attended Nike Cross Country Camp in July. It was at Stanford University for about 4 days where I stayed in a dorm with my roommate. I got the chance to learn from inspirational speakers and stretch with pros. I loved that everyone was so friendly and were encouraging with the running, and stretches etc. I remember running about a mile the second day and it was so hot out and everyone kept running, but I couldn't so I started walking to catch my breath. I was honestly scared the instructors were going to pressure me to keep running or someone would look at me and ask why I wasn't keeping up. To my surprise none of that happened. The instructors actually walked with me and told me it was okay to walk and to run whenever I was ready. As for everyone else running they gave encouraging comments and eventually I began to run with a friend I had made there the day before. The program made me feel welcomed and taught me not to give up and to practice endurance. At the program I met lots of people from around the country and even outside of the country. It was amazing how people from different parts of the world came together and were all in one place for the same thing. It just comes to show how we're not all that different from each other and together we can learn from each other and have fun!

The program I will attend in July is Nike Cross Country Camp of Champions. I am thrilled to be given the opportunity to participate in this program and I am excited to see what it is all about! Since the beginning of this 2014-2015 school year, I was been anxious to join a sport. I read through the sports my school provided, and I decided on Cross Country. The time came and there was not anyone to coach the sport. I was disappointed, but I did not want to give up on the idea of doing a sport. I feel that in order to pursue my dream which is to be able to help people I need to be healthy, both physically and mentally. This year in one of my classes called Academic Leadership, we learned about mental health. In that unit we learned that exercise has a positive influence on our mental health. I want to be stable because I know it is difficult to even begin to help someone if we are not okay. Now that my program is a few weeks away, I am both nervous and eager to meet new people and well, run! I can surely say that I look forward to learning something new and getting to know people my age with the same passion for the sport! All in all, Nike Cross Country Camp of Champions will give me motivation to join sports at school and of course pursue my dream.