Sophomore Year Top 10

It's hard to believe that in just two weeks, I will have halfway done with college. I know a lot of people get pretty excited about going home for the summer, but honestly I don't like it at all. I love being here in Ada with all of my friends, it's my happy place! Don't get me wrong, I love my family more than anything and seeing them is always great, but after about a week I am incredibly bored. Lasting a whole summer at home is hard! Luckily, I get to come back to Ada a couple of times during the summer to work freshman orientation, and for cross country camp with the team. Before I get super emo about having to go home in a couple weeks, I thought I'd reminisce on some of the best moments of the year!

SOPHOMORE YEAR TOP 10 (in no particular order)

1. New York Trip

The cross country team took a trip to New York for a meet this year and it was my first race back from my injury! I was so nervous going into this race, since I was still recovering and hadn't raced in a very long time. This was a really good meet to open up with though because not only was it a good meet, but it was a great experience! My team and I had so much fun exploring New York, visiting Niagara Falls, and running a great race! 

2. The first time I could run again after breaking my back!

Not being able to run for so long was one of the hardest things that I have gone through. No one tells
you what to expect when the thing you love gets suddenly ripped away for you. It honestly changes your outlook on everything, not only your sport but every aspect of life. I appreciate the little things so much more now and I will never again say "I HAVE to go run"... it will from now on always be "I GET to go run!" Coming back from injury was the most motivating experience of my life and genuinely brought tears to my eyes when my teammates were cheering me on during my first run back, even when I was only allowed to go half a mile. 

3. SADIES

Every year we do a cross country team Sadie Hawkins dance and it's one of my favorite events of the year! This year I got to go with my wonderful boyfriend and it was such a fun time. All the girls on the team have to ask a boy on the team to the dance, so it's so funny to see who everyone ends up asking! We're so used to seeing each other at practice, so it's fun to see everyone all dressed up!

4. Adopting my kitty cat!

The senior boys on our cross country team live in a house off campus and they take in every stray cat they see, which is a lot! One of the cats just had kittens! It has always been my plan to get a cat my senior year, but when this opportunity presented itself it just felt like a sign that the time is right! There were four kittens born and each of them have been adopted my my friends and I. I am beyond excited to take him home with me and be a cat mom!

5. Conference

My second race of the year was the cross country conference championships. I was really grateful for the opportunity to race in the post season meet, since I missed so much earlier in the season. We actually got to host conference this year which was really fun, but also super convenient. This meet
ended up going extraordinarily well, we got 2nd place right behind John Carrol which was a good outcome. After the meet we had a big cookout with the whole team and our families which was a really sweet experience as well!

6. Besties wedding!

One of my very best friends got married in November, and I got to attend it with my boyfriend and other besties as well! This was the first wedding that I've ever been to and the fact that it was for someone so important to me just made it that much more special. We danced the night away and enjoyed a lot of precious moments together.

7. Christmas

I love Christmas more than anything, it is my favorite time of the year! Having the whole family together is something that is so special to me and there is so much joy during the holiday season. This
year I went home for Christmas break and spent it with my family. I then spent the days after Christmas with my boyfriend's family and met so many new people. Christmas is just the best!

8. Indoor conference

We beat John Carrol for the first time since 2018!!!! This was such a special meet and the whole team really rallied together with the common goal of beating JCU and you better believe we worked our butts off to do it! We all had to work extremely hard, putting every ounce of effort we had into every race we competed in. All of our hard work paid off and we got to celebrate. I was also on the podium for the first time in my collegiate career. 

9. Spring Break

I already blogged in detail about this wonderful week, so it definitely had to make the top 10 list. My first trip with friends, my very best friends nonetheless! It was just a week full of joy and memories
with them that will last a life time. 

10. WashU 10k

I also already blogged about this trip, but it was just so fantastic! First of all, travelling with your best friends will never not be fun, especially when you get to explore! Before we even got to the racing part of the trip we went to the zoo, cooked breakfast and dinner with everyone and watched so many episodes of Scooby Doo. On top of all of that, I ran the best race of my life, a PR by over a minute in a super competitive meet!

While I'm not currently looking forward to going home, I am trying really hard to focus on all of the good things that have happened throughout the year. College is such a special experience, my parents have always told me that it would be the best four years of my life and they could not have been more right about that! 

I'm two years done with college.

Or maybe, I still have two more years to go.

It reminds me of the glass half full or glass half empty argument. I don't want to see it as the fact that two years are gone already, but instead that I still have two amazing years ahead of me!