Thanks for making long distance running a life long hobby for me

Because I used to get bored easily, I sought after the unfamiliar and uncertain by trying new activities. Taking a break from my predictable prep school life, last summer I signed up for STRIVE, a running and service program in Iten, Kenya, a small town hang 8,000 feet above sea level at the edge of the Great Rift Valley.

Through training, I learnt to pay attention to the muscles at work and take conscious control of every single movement. In addition, I embraced other aspects of the program. While teaching, I embellished the material with humor and closely observed each student’s learning style to provide better assistance. During downtime, I stayed offline and engaged in thought-provoking conversations with runners from a myriad of backgrounds. From these experiences, I realized that I had kept myself from making mundane moments enjoyable.

By the time I departed from Iten, I had lost twenty pounds in weight, two minutes in 5K personal records. The moment when we started singing Circle of Life upon spotting the sunrise on Masai Mara will live in my dream forever. Sometime during college, I would love to run along the Great Rift Valley, learn from the amazing athletes, and bond with the local students again.