At The Top by Demitri

At The Top by Demitri - September 2025 Scholarship Essay

Life always has its highs and lows. When you think you’re at your highest, it can come crashing down hard, like a big rock falling into a lake. Sudden moments like this make life so unpredictable. As a student athlete, I’ve had a fair share of experiences when I felt at my highest, but then it all came crashing down. Last year, especially when the school year started. To put it into perspective, last year, cross country wasn’t my primary sport at all. The practices were brutal, long, gruesome, and downright just evil. That season wasn’t a good one, and I knew some things needed to change. The first change I made was cutting my hair off. It may seem like something minor or unrelated, but my hair was a big part of me, and that was a big thing for me, as I haven’t cut my hair since elementary school. Like Lonnie Walker’s story in a way, but my hair doesn’t hold that much of my life. The next set of changes in my life was a diet plan and a workout plan. I ate terribly my first year, and it showed. I decided to commit to a meal plan and work out at the gym three times a week to improve myself. That was my whole summer basically. By the time next cross country season rolled around, I was looking brand new. It’s kind of like the saying new hair, new me. I felt that. I eventually got good enough to run with the faster and better kids on my team. We were looking for a victory against a school we usually don’t beat in this sport, Huntingtown. My teammate Alex and I got off to a fast start, some might say too fast, but we were leading the pack until we came into the next part of the course. In their course, they had these steep hills that were lowkey dangerous. I missed a step on one of the branches, and I fell and rolled down the mountain.
I immediately felt something was wrong with my knee, but I pushed through and finished the race. At my highest, being with the best group, feeling good about myself, the girls giving me the attention I want, all came crashing down. My kneecap moved out of its socket, and eventually, a few days later, I was diagnosed with a torn meniscus. It affected my mental health severely because I couldn’t run with my team anymore. Another reason is that I was using this season as conditioning for basketball, and when my knee got hurt, I felt as if all my hard work went to waste. I can say, though, I’ve learned a lot from this moment. One, always remember it can happen to anyone. Two, it always happens for a reason. As for my athletic ability, it was as strong as it used to be; my other skills honed and sharpened. Finally, just because one bad thing happens doesn’t mean you have to stop being you or doing what you were doing. This one hits home the most because I let that whole injury convey my entire mood and how I felt when, in reality, I should’ve looked for the positives.