In 2007, I was a college-bound athlete for cross country—something I had always dreamed of. I had several schools sending me information about their programs. I even had two that were willing to fly me out there for a visit. My high school coach had an undying belief in me; he was always telling me that I could run in college if I wanted it bad enough. That was until during a meet I went down. Hard. I had secretly been having knee pain during practice but didn’t want to tell anybody. During that meet, my knee gave out in the middle of a personal best run. My uncle, who was at the meet for both my cousin and me, was the one who found me on the course. According to the rules, if he touched me, I automatically forfeited. Well, I had to take that option and not finish the race. This would lead me to about six months of doctor appointments, physical therapy and a missed track season. Essentially, it came down to the fact that I had bad genes. I was told that if I didn’t stop running, I would be in a wheelchair by my thirties. I did come back for my senior season, but it just wasn’t the same and I knew I was never going to be the same, So, I decided it was best to forego running in college. I was devastated. All of my friendships up to that point had been from being part of a team and I didn’t know what I was going to do after. It took me a while, but I did end up settling on my safety school.
This ultimately became the best decision of my life. It led me to meet the people that I needed to meet that would lead me to do things that would change my life, such as becoming a health and fitness coach. I never would have thought that something so upsetting to a 17-year-old would lead to such a life changing situation, which was ultimately for the best.