Manny Garcia '14 Recruiting Profile

Common App

Junior year. Cross Country District Championships. There were expectations for the team to go to state, but none for me. All I knew was my best wasn’t good enough: I had dropped from fourth to last on the team, and the hollow pit of disappointment was my constant companion on the course. I thought I had worked hard, but the season had turned into a bust. Something had to change.

The next day I had went to coach Quirke and had a talk with him. Already tired from not getting enough sleep the night before and on the verge of tears, I felt terrible walking in his office, and I did not feel any better when I had left. His was blunt with me and his criticism seemed harsh. He told me that there was several reasons I had a season as bad as I did: I didn’t listen, I skipped practice, I didn’t train my hardest, I ran by myself, and all in all I was not a coachable athlete. I thought I knew it all because I was an upperclassmen and didn’t need help from anyone, but in all reality I had no clue on what I was doing. At the time I had a hard time believing him, but I look back now and I realize he was right.

Before I left his office the last bit of the conversation was him asking me a question that changed my entire attitude about running.

    “Do you want to run fast?”

    “Yes I do.”

    “Then you are gonna have to listen to me. You have to do exactly as I say and not argue with me. You have to be a coachable athlete. Can you do that for me?”

I was tired of being frustrated and tired of being on my own. What I said changed my attitude in a way I couldn’t imagine.

    “Yes.”

    “Then get ready to run a lot harder than you have before and get ready to listen to me.”

As I listened through the rest of my Junior year and further on I realized how wrong I was in the way I acted during the season. Listening to Quirke, I have made tremendous leaps and bounds in my times, and I’m achieving my goals. I have gone from the last guy on the team to the fastest. School records are within my grasp. I’ve learned a lot from an experience like this one. First of all, one needs to listen to their coaches, teachers, parents or whomever is leading you in a certain direction. They do know what they are doing and they would not lead you astray. Leaders are there to help you. Second, I learned how important it was to run with a team. You cannot get better on your own. Your team is there to support you and make you better. They are there for you no matter what happens. You are all in it together. Third, I learned that every practice counts. You must train to win, not to lose and training isn’t something to be taken so lightly. Lastly, you need to be coachable no matter what you think you know. Your coach is going to make you better without a doubt.

No longer do I run with disappointment in my stomach, now I run with my team. I run with pride and the confidence that comes from knowing I have my coaches behind me. I’m the top runner at Barlow who is has become a great role model for the younger runners and it feels great knowing I’m making a positive influence on them. It is even better knowing that this year at districts I will have my team with me and all the hard work I put into getting this far is going to pay off and my team and I are going to exceed expectations.