In my sophomore year of high school, I ran a very devastating race at the sectional meet in Mascoutah. This was the meet where we competed to qualify for state. In order to qualify, athletes must place first or second in their event or run the qualifying time. That day, I was competing in the 800 meter dash, a race consisting of two laps around the track.

The previous year, my freshman track season, I was very close to qualifying in the 800. I had run a second off the time I needed to and finished in third place. I cried at the finish line with my mom and was so disappointed that I missed it.

The next year comes, and it’s time to compete in the sectional track meet. Going into the meet, I was feeling confident knowing that I’ve been training all year for this. As I approached the starting line, I took a deep breath and said a prayer. The starting gun fired and we were off. After the first lap, I was sitting in third place and starting to struggle. I just kept pushing through and reminding myself how much I wanted it.

I turned the last curve and was neck in neck with the girl in front of me, but I didn’t have much left. I attempted to dive at the finish, but it was more like a fall. Although it was close, I knew I had gotten third place. The girl beat me by an eight-hundredth of a second.

Now I knew my only hope of going to state would be if I ran the qualifying time. To qualify, I had to run a time of 2:25.12. In that race, I ran 2:25.28.

After that race, I felt pretty down on myself. Despite my disappointment in how the season ended, I moved on and began to look at that meet in a positive way: I now had more motivation to work even harder this upcoming track season. Things don’t always work out the way we want to, I’ve learned, but I know God has a plan for me and, despite my failures, I can still achieve big things.