Last Friday, the Men's and Women's track programs ran the Alumni Meet. It's an intersquad meet with a small number events designed to be a benchmark for where our fitness levels are at. It's not technically a "real meet" but all of the athletes still take their races seriously. The distance side of the women's team ran the mile, and did great. However, as I finished up my cool down and watched the kid's races (short races for all the young kids that attend) I saw a bigger picture.
As our coaches said before, the meet really isn't about us. It is about welcoming our alumni back home and giving them the chance to catch up with old friends, meet new ones, and see what the track program has become since they graduated. Having had the opportunity to chat with some of the alumni, both recent and past graduates, I was amazed at all of the different things that they have done. There are people with so many different jobs, people that have gone on to compete, 40+ year old men still running under 6 minutes in a mile, and all the kids! Attending NCC was probably the best choice that a lot of these Alumn made. Res Rec was filled with smiles and laughter, making it seem as though everyone had a pretty awesome life.
It made me think about my time at NCC and wonder what it is going to be like when I come back to the Alumni Meet. Not knowing what life will be like in 2, 5, 10, 20 years down the road is definitely something that crosses my mind, but that uncertainty is what makes life fun. Now more than ever I have confidence that my experiences at NCC are going to set me up for a pretty awesome life as long as I take advantage of every opportunity. Every student here has the opportunity to do the same. What will you make of your experience here?