“Our coach let us know how proud she was of us: no matter what, we succeeded. » What she said was important to us because we knew she believed in our abilities and that we were an incredible team no matter how we competed. She saw us work hard in practice every day. Westover was the day to show off our skills, but the training we did during the hot summer months to prepare for the season is why we've already gotten this far. Our portfolio is also like this; we write all semester, and then we get to show our work in a final product. Sure, writing during the semester is hard, but it all pays off when you know your final product will be a big success. That first try meant a lot to me because cross country was a big part of my life for so long and being a runner was a big part of my identity in high school. I learned a lot about myself during those years and cross country helped me learn how to live, like writing, one step at a time.