Learning To Run
This year in all its corniness is a fresh start. It’s my sophomore year in college and everything is different this year, the stakes are higher and the challenges are more demanding. Last year I had the privilege of being accepted into UC Berkeley where I maintained an okay GPA with a basic course load so I had the free time to spare to join a sport. I joined rugby, which last year opened my eyes to a whole different world of people and ideas. That being said rugby didn’t take over my life last year so I still had tons of free time to do with as I pleased with the knowledge that college was paid for so I had time to kill, I could go at a slow place and get where I needed to go.
This year is different for me. Last year I was naïve to think life was just going to keep going easy sailing. College isn’t paid for this year, I’m taking a harder course load, and rugby demands more time as a vet. This means I have less time to myself and I had to find a job. God’s been very good in that aspect. I now work 21 hrs a week, but that means I have 21 hrs of work, 17 units, rugby, and did I mention I’m trying to join ROTC.
The ROTC is what inspired this new blog. When I first applied to ROTC the goal was that I would join so that it would pay for college and I wouldn’t have to get a job during college or after because I would be an officer in the army because that’s what I felt, and still feel like God is calling me to do. Here’s the problem ROTC and the Army in general has a rule, people with Asthma are immediately disqualified. The rule makes sense and is entirely justified but it still sucks, but I still have hope. There is the possibility that if I got my asthma under good control that I could still join the army, but here’s the thing, the only way to really tell is for me to run.
I’ve hated running for the majority of my life because of Asthma. My asthma makes it feel as if my lungs are caving in or my throat is closing up every time I run, so as much as possible I’ve avoided it. Not so easy when you play sports, but doable if you love the game enough. You say you did fitness when really you didn’t and you hide the fact that your asthma really hurts as bad as it does when you know that at that point in the season your fitness should make it so that the asthma isn’t that bad. The same is true with my life. I have every intention of going into politics when I get older, and as everyone knows politics is a fast paced world where you have to get places fast and do them fast too. I much prefer kicking back and going slow in life like my freshman year. Problem is if I want to get into the army and I want a successful career as a politician I have to learn to get up and start moving. So here’s to learning how to run.
Hebrew’s 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Costley
