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Personally I believe that the areas of town that are not only the hubs of attention and drama are also the best parts of the town as a teenager. The obvious sites that come to mind when I think of significance in my life are pretty much the high school and the nearby track. Before people judge though, you guys have to realize that as teens we spend most of our day in school and it’s where we get to catch up with all of our friends. Plus it’s never a boring day at FHS because of the masses of kids storming down the hallway, whether it’s because they are late for class or because its taco day. To a stranger walking in to the high school it would be an eye opening experience with an explosion of noises surrounding them from all sides. Its what I love about our school, everyone is so different whether people are jocks, emos, cheerleaders, squints, and our school has it all. Although from time to time the groups tend to clash with each other or have some inner conflict, it’s all part of the high school experience. One place in particular where the entire school can come together and show our unity and pride is the track and the awesome teams that use it to dominate our opponents.
The track hosts many events such as our charismatic football games, our slightly less charismatic field hockey games, and the severely underestimated track team. On weekends and late night games the track is devoted to the football team which is accompanied by the stunts of our very skilled cheerleaders and the groove of the band in the bleachers, and who could forget the crazy diehard fans who paint their chests with the school colors. On weekdays though the track belongs to me and my fellow trackies practicing for, or participating in meets. To those outside the track community it is impossible to understand the energy of a meet and the tension of races whether it is the 100 meter dash or as long as the two mile. As much as I do love the track though, especially the hurdles which I love more than anything else, there are times in practice when I swear I hate the very thing that is forcing me to push myself to the limits and running myself into the ground.
Even though the track is a place of intense workouts and grueling exercises, it is a special place, unique to the town simply because of all that has taken place in the past year alone. For me it is special because it is the place where I worked so hard to break the school record for the high hurdles and it is a place where I have seen my friends become champions. There were times in my season when I was injured and unable to compete and I got a whole new perspective of the team I have competed for over the past few years. I was able to relax for once and respect just how hard some of the younger athletes compete hoping to become future captains or even Hock All-Stars, as well as the wonderful aromas of the distance boys finishing a race and finding to the nearest trash barrel in which to purge their lunches (it’s a track thing). I also got to see my friends, many of whom I met through track, compete in their events for the first time since I am normally too busy with my own events to worry about my teammates sadly. For the first time in my life I got a glimpse of what it must feel like being a coach or parent watching proudly as my friends compete and hopefully win although the girls team more so than the guys unfortunately. I know this is going to seem corny, but believe it or not I tell track stories a lot like the cliché “One time at band camp…” because so many great stories and jokes come from track since we all spend about 15 hours a week together practicing or competing.
Thirty years down the road from now when I’m hopefully telling my kids about the “good old days” I will look back at my time in school and track and recall special memories such as qualifying for state championships, my awesome senior year, my first day as a freshman, or even some of my crazy teachers who I doubt I’ll ever forget. For each person though the “good old days” will differ depending on what activities he or she participated in while in high school, whether it be volleyball, National Honor Society, or the school theater program.