Students Talk About Why They Joined SRO
Toward the end of the 2005-06 season, students shared these comments about their experience with Students Run Oakland:
"I chose to be in this program because I really didn’t want to go home early. Also to distract myself from all the violence in the city of Oakland. This program has really turned my life around. It has showed me that Oakland really is a great city with more than great students. Without SRO I would have probably gotten into something that I did not want to get into in the streets. SRO is a lifesaver and a great program to discipline yourself to do your best at anything that comes into your life. Once you finish a marathon you can do and go up to anything."
James, Castlemont, 11th grade
"Thanks SRO, for everything, and that includes the hundreds of dollar of free stuff. I would definitely come back next year, and would recommend this program to all my other friends so they can experience what I had during these past months.”
Jin Yu , Oakland Tech, 10th grade
“I joined SRO because I wanted to do something that I didn’t think I could do. This program changed my way of thinking. I know it was a challenge that nobody thought I could do, so to prove them wrong I joined this program. Before joining SRO I never used to run in gym so I used to get C’s. But now I get A’s because I run.”
Tiffany, Oakland Tech, 10th grade
”I am in SRO because I know that this is very healthy for me and that it would put me in shape, but most of all it is for the people I love/care about. It is really hard to explain, but anything hard/challenging you do it in the hopes of making them proud. I do it for the voice in my head."
Chris, Oakland Tech, 9th grade
“I joined SRO because I wanted to lose weight and I thought it was something fun to try to do. SRO has really made an impact on me because at first I didn’t like to run but after I joined SRO I like to run. I never used to run in P.E but now I do and I get A’s in P.E. I joined SRO because I like challenges and I saw SRO as a big challenge. Also, I just wanted to go to L.A but now as the big run is getting closer I really want to finish this race.”
Ngozi , Oakland Tech, 10th grade
"There are many reasons to why I joined S.R.O. One is to prove to myself that I am mentally tough. I used to think that running was a simple task and that anyone could do it -- I was wrong. Training with the group gave me a chance to discipline myself. I want to give myself a chance to say that I ran one of the biggest races in the world and finished. S.R.O. is truly the bomb!"
Mary, 9th grade ,
"My name is Edgar and I'm part of the Students Run Oakland Program. I have been part of it for three years. When I heard about it was when I was a sophomore at Castlemont High School, I was 15 years old and since I did not have anything to do after school so I signed up. I thought it was gonna be fun to run a marathon and I was right! My first year was hard because I never had run a mile before, but thanks to the training the program gives you, it makes you accomplish your goal, which is the Los Angeles Marathon. But not only that, it makes you see another side of yourself you have never seen before and you never thought you had it in you. Plus it makes you stronger mentally like you feel that there is nothing you cannot accomplish because you have done a marathon, that is 26.2 miles which is something not a lot of people on the planet have accomplished, and like Coach Alphonzo says: “You guys have done something out of the ordinary so that makes you extraordinary”. And I think he is right, you know. It’s not really the result that you get at the end that really matters, it’s the journey that you took and the purpose you have put in your mind for doing a marathon.
During the three years that I have been in the program, I have met a lot of students around my age, that each of them have a different dream they are chasing after, but they are not sure they can accomplish that dream. But after the marathon, they look at life different, they don’t want just to accomplish that dream, they want to go beyond that dream, and that’s the same way I felt after I finished my first marathon.
I want to thank all the volunteers for always supporting the program and helping us: the students; Spencer Hooper for being a patient Executive Director; and Coach Alphonzo Jackson for never giving up on me and showing me that there is more than life. I want to thank Nola Turnage for believing in me all these years. Also thanks to Terry Buller, Christine Chapon, Sarah Smith and LaJuana Clark, Justine Jacob and the Da Silva couple for always being there when I need them. And I want to thank God for giving us the strength we got.
And everybody who reads this, always remember “Quitters never win and winners never quit.”
Sincerely,
“Superman” Edgar, 19, East Oakland, March 9th 2006.
"I chose to be in this program because I really didn’t want to go home early. Also to distract myself from all the violence in the city of Oakland. This program has really turned my life around. It has showed me that Oakland really is a great city with more than great students. Without SRO I would have probably gotten into something that I did not want to get into in the streets. SRO is a lifesaver and a great program to discipline yourself to do your best at anything that comes into your life. Once you finish a marathon you can do and go up to anything."
James, Castlemont, 11th grade
"Thanks SRO, for everything, and that includes the hundreds of dollar of free stuff. I would definitely come back next year, and would recommend this program to all my other friends so they can experience what I had during these past months.”
Jin Yu , Oakland Tech, 10th grade
“I joined SRO because I wanted to do something that I didn’t think I could do. This program changed my way of thinking. I know it was a challenge that nobody thought I could do, so to prove them wrong I joined this program. Before joining SRO I never used to run in gym so I used to get C’s. But now I get A’s because I run.”
Tiffany, Oakland Tech, 10th grade
”I am in SRO because I know that this is very healthy for me and that it would put me in shape, but most of all it is for the people I love/care about. It is really hard to explain, but anything hard/challenging you do it in the hopes of making them proud. I do it for the voice in my head."
Chris, Oakland Tech, 9th grade
“I joined SRO because I wanted to lose weight and I thought it was something fun to try to do. SRO has really made an impact on me because at first I didn’t like to run but after I joined SRO I like to run. I never used to run in P.E but now I do and I get A’s in P.E. I joined SRO because I like challenges and I saw SRO as a big challenge. Also, I just wanted to go to L.A but now as the big run is getting closer I really want to finish this race.”
Ngozi , Oakland Tech, 10th grade
"There are many reasons to why I joined S.R.O. One is to prove to myself that I am mentally tough. I used to think that running was a simple task and that anyone could do it -- I was wrong. Training with the group gave me a chance to discipline myself. I want to give myself a chance to say that I ran one of the biggest races in the world and finished. S.R.O. is truly the bomb!"
Mary, 9th grade ,
"My name is Edgar and I'm part of the Students Run Oakland Program. I have been part of it for three years. When I heard about it was when I was a sophomore at Castlemont High School, I was 15 years old and since I did not have anything to do after school so I signed up. I thought it was gonna be fun to run a marathon and I was right! My first year was hard because I never had run a mile before, but thanks to the training the program gives you, it makes you accomplish your goal, which is the Los Angeles Marathon. But not only that, it makes you see another side of yourself you have never seen before and you never thought you had it in you. Plus it makes you stronger mentally like you feel that there is nothing you cannot accomplish because you have done a marathon, that is 26.2 miles which is something not a lot of people on the planet have accomplished, and like Coach Alphonzo says: “You guys have done something out of the ordinary so that makes you extraordinary”. And I think he is right, you know. It’s not really the result that you get at the end that really matters, it’s the journey that you took and the purpose you have put in your mind for doing a marathon.
During the three years that I have been in the program, I have met a lot of students around my age, that each of them have a different dream they are chasing after, but they are not sure they can accomplish that dream. But after the marathon, they look at life different, they don’t want just to accomplish that dream, they want to go beyond that dream, and that’s the same way I felt after I finished my first marathon.
I want to thank all the volunteers for always supporting the program and helping us: the students; Spencer Hooper for being a patient Executive Director; and Coach Alphonzo Jackson for never giving up on me and showing me that there is more than life. I want to thank Nola Turnage for believing in me all these years. Also thanks to Terry Buller, Christine Chapon, Sarah Smith and LaJuana Clark, Justine Jacob and the Da Silva couple for always being there when I need them. And I want to thank God for giving us the strength we got.
And everybody who reads this, always remember “Quitters never win and winners never quit.”
Sincerely,
“Superman” Edgar, 19, East Oakland, March 9th 2006.
posted by Unknown at 11:59 AM
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