Nathan Mars '22 Recruiting Profile

Seconds counts - especially to me. In 2015, I was diagnosed with absence seizures. This is a condition which causes me to black out or stare into space for a few seconds; not a big deal if I am sitting at a table, but much more concerning if I am walking down a flight of stairs. I actually blacked out while walking down stairs at school a few years ago. Luckily my friends were aware of my condition and knew to seek help from school personnel, who then called 911. Had my seizure developed into a full grand mal, the paramedics would have needed to administer special anti-seizure medication. Now my condition is well-managed and completely under control through daily medication and regular check-ups.

But seconds matter to me in another important way - running cross country. Around the time I was first diagnosed with epilepsy, I started running with my junior high cross country team. I clearly had a knack and physique for long distance running and continued my training at Loyola High School when I joined the varsity track and cross country teams. Loyola’s long distance program is nationally recognized, so the competition is fierce and our practice regimen tests the limits of human endurance. Our practice schedule includes an average of eight miles every morning, three miles in the afternoon, six days a week. This does not include two hours of strength training on Sundays I have with a private coach. But practicing pays off, given that our top runners are now clocking sub-15 minute, 3 mile runs. It is mind-boggling that the time separating the top 2 to 3 finishers is a matter of seconds. In a timed trial in November 2020, I finished with a time of 15:54, only two seconds behind the first place finisher. In a trial run we competed in January 2021, our first place finisher crossed the line at 14:47, second place at 14:50, third place at 15:06 and I came in fourth place at 15:27. Clearly, the little details matter - our training, our cool downs, our diets, our sleep habits, and even our running shoes. Every little advantage matters when it comes to cutting seconds off our time.

Many may think that measuring life in seconds is misguided, and I am not suggesting I operate this way. But as author and speaker TemitOpe Ibrahim has said, “choices are like seconds, they add up.” I am mindful of seconds because of how they impact me in different aspects of my life. And I am also mindful of my choices, because they clearly result in how I spend my time and my seconds. Our decisions and life choices are important, and have the potential to lead us along a certain path, in a certain direction, which will have a lasting impact on us. And this is why I am interested in running for a top college program. I want to make my seconds and choices count.