So
it was the heat of my schools annual Inter house sports and I was about to run
my usual 400m for my house! I have been running this race for 5 years now but I
was scared. I was shaking. Will I make my house members proud? Will I come
first, second or third? Will I fall down? Will I accidentally cross my line? Will I push someone? Will someone push me? Will I stop breathing? Every year, I was always feeling this way. I always thought I wasn't good enough but the funny thing was, that I always made it to the finals.
In high school, inter
house sports was taken very personal. Friends against themselves. Teachers
against themselves as well. It was like CLASH OF THE TITANS. Everyone was
hiding their athletes or swimmers or jumpers or basketball players. We all
wanted to surprise each other with talented athletes. Nobody wanted to be the
last. I mean who likes coming last? Especially houses like mine that had been
coming last for yearssssss But WE WERE VERY DETRMINED. ‘We can be one of them’,
my House Captain would say. I was Assistant House Captain by the way. I and the
house captain (my very good friend) would sit down with the other seniors in my
house and allocate roles to each one of them to keep our activities in check.
We wanted to get medals in EVERY sport. Even Ludo :( Chess :( Javelin :( LOL. We got new athletes
but they were not as good as the ones other houses got so we started training
our own. It was tough. We would run before lunch break and sometimes after
lunch. We would practice in our estates but others never knew this. My captain
will be like ‘RUN ROUND YOUR ESTATES THIS WEEKEND’. We really stressed our
athletes. We made the juniors run with us. We wanted to eliminate fear from
them. We wanted them to be able to run our races if per adventure we didn’t
make it to the interhouse sports.
The only thing was that the teachers allocated
to our house didn’t care if we came last or first. It would definitely be a
wonderful feeling to come first but they didn’t want us to see inter house
sports like that. They cheered us when we came last and that was A LOT of
times. Yes it was that bad. They wanted us to see it as fun and games. It
opened opportunities for some students to realize their talents but they were
like ‘it’s never that deep’. I remember one year when I came last in a relay. I
got the Barton late and could not cover up. When I got to the finished line my
teachers were cheering me like I came first. I vividly remember one saying to
me, ‘Have you eaten? Do you want chicken?’ Hahaha. So cute. She started
shouting to the house members, ‘girls clap for these winners’. I could even
hear them cheering me while I was running my race casually coming last. So
sweet.
In
SS2/ Year 10, I was practicing for long jump and I fell on my toes and my feet were swollen. This was 2 weeks to inter house sports. Other houses were glad.
They were like YEAHHHH.. One man down! LOOL. I was so sad. I was still going to
the field with my one leg, following my team mates, trying my hardest to
practice. They kept on telling me not to bother but we had practiced our
formation. OMG! We knew our 1, 2, 3, and Last leg. It was going to be MAD!!!!!
I swear :( Until
this happened. I always slept and dreamt that I didn’t practice that day. I had
never won a gold medal in athletics (I had some in basketball but I wanted one in athletics) and that was gonna be the PERFECT time. *It’s not every time silver
silver sometimes GOLD now*. My team mates said they didn’t mind. They could
handle it. I knew they were sad but it didn’t stop them from trying. They
started training a girl in our set that had never touched the tracked since her
5 years of schooling there. How now? And they still believed we would come
first. They changed formation to accommodate her speed. Uurgh those girls.
Bless them. I ran that year but it wasn’t my best year due to that injury and
we didn’t come first in that race but oh well…
Now,
it was my last year in High school and I really wanted to get this gold but I
was too scared. I thought I would come first during heat but I didn’t. Hence I
wasn’t confident in myself. What I do is that I will scrutinize all my
competitors. In my head I would be like,
‘Ah!
Oyinda is in my race?? I have come last!!!’
‘Ijeoma
ooooo!!! It’s over for me’
‘But
why is Oj in my race? Isn’t she is a junior?’
‘Sir!
I have Asthma’
‘I
am allergic to grass, I can’t run here’
‘Don’t
shoot the gun’
‘Noo’
I
would cry as I walked to my lane. It was very emotional. I took sport personal. Anyone
that knew me then would testify to this. Other teachers would say to their girls
‘Don’t come back here if you come last’, ‘Make sure you come first’. Some will *diss*
the other athletes just to boost the confidence of their girls. lol.
This
faithful day (InterHouse Sports day) I ran 800m. I never do that. There was no one to do it for the
house and trust my teachers to say ‘just represent the house, we don’t care if
you come last. At least we get points for participation’ OMG who wants points
-__-. We want Medals!!! Out of the abundance of my heart. I did it and came 4th
and my legs started cramping. I started crying not because of the pain but because
of my 400m race. This was the time and now my leg is acting up. Why me? Always me?
My teachers as usual were at the finish line waiting to get me and I fell on
them crying ‘I have another race. This is not fair!! Oooooooo’. I was upset. They
got the nurse to massage my leg but it just wasn’t working for me. I jumped up
and started jumping on that leg. The pain needed to go. I would jump and scream
due to the pain but I was still jumping.
5
mins to my last 400m race in high school, my teacher asked me, ‘Can you do
this?’ I knew I was in pain but I was saying ‘Yess’. I wanted to try this. This
was my last chance to do it. Then before I went to my lane she said, ‘I am
proud of you’.
*PAUSE* Bless her 100,000,00 times. She was my rock during that period. She didn't
stop me but she assured me that no matter what, she would be at the finish line
waiting to cheer me.
…..One
your marks, get set, GO!!
Fam!
Pain or no pain I ran like my life depended on it. My brother took pictures of
that race. It was clear. I wanted it. I went for it and it was evident in the
GAPPPPPP I gave them. Normally, when we run 400m, we start a bit slow at the beginning
of the race and depending on you, you could pace up at the 200m point or 100m
point but UgoTheGogo had no chill. I ran the whole thing and of course
collapsed at the end. I can’t find the picture of me falling down but I looked
like a lifeless fish. Yes I did it.
I wanted to be proud of myself.
I wanted my house mates to be proud of me.
I wanted my teachers to be proud as well.
Of
recent I have been going through a lot and I have been thinking I can’t do it
but I remembered this story and I was assured that when I put my mind to it. I
can do anything. Don't look at your competitors. Look to the finish line. Why? Because that's the goal. that's the aim. Trust me, you will get there. it might not be as sudden as you want it to be but it is coming. Patience guys! Patience! it's a virtue.
I also know that it was graduation gift from God and I bless
him for that. I was able to graduate with my First athletics gold medal and 14
silver and bronze medals. AMEN? AMEN!!!!
There
is nothing you cannot do!!
Till
next time xx
-UgoTheGogo
