It feels silly talking about a major life turning point that occurred in 6th grade, but that’s when my love for running truly began. When I joined the track team in Middle School, I started off doing what most middle schoolers do—sprints. But before the conference championship, my instincts told me to try the 800-meter race. About an hour before my race, my best friend and teammate, Audrey Western ’14, had lost a shoe during a race. Although she still won by a landslide, her foot was hurt badly, and she had to pull out of the 800. She undoubtedly would have won if she’d raced, but with her absence, I was able to pull off a win. That’s when I decided I wanted to be a competitive runner.

My happiest UPrep moments were running with the track and cross country teams, especially with my best friend and my older brother. I was able to run my first two high school track seasons with my brother Jullian Haley ’12, who qualified in sprints for the state championship three years in a row. It was also where I became best friends with Audrey, who set many UPrep records. Audrey and I went to state as individual competitors in track and cross country every season.

While racing at UPrep, the thing I’m most proud of was the range of events in which I found success. I went to state in the 100-, 200-, 400-, 800-, 1,600-, and 5,000-meter races. But the races that made me happiest were the 4 x 400-meter relay races at state my freshman and senior years. Track is traditionally considered an individual sport, and relays are where you feel most like a team. It’s more special than the individual races: I push myself because I’m running for my friends.

I was drawn to running because I liked how much success was based on discipline. I saw runners as hardworking and goal-driven people, and I wanted that to be part of my identity. I wanted academics to be important to me as well, and this seemed possible because of something my 8th grade Math Teacher Dan Chestnut told our class. He said he didn’t believe there’s such a thing as being smart, that it’s all about the effort you put into studying. Mr. Chestnut told us about how some cultures don’t label people as “smart” or “intelligent,” but as hard workers. I loved this and realized that this concept could be applied to academics, athletics, or whatever you want to be successful in.

My athletic journey has reminded me again and again to be patient, and that hard work pays off. Transitioning to running cross country and track and field at Oberlin College, where I studied sociology and rhetoric, was difficult. My training immediately tripled through doubling my mileage and adding cross training and core circuits. In those first years, I was disappointed because I wasn’t running as well as I expected to. I quickly learned that the self-doubt affected my results: If you tell yourself that you will fail at something, you will. I’ve learned to not only trust but enjoy the process of working hard, and to remember that, for the most part, you get out of something what you put into it.

I credit a lot of my high school running success to my cross country and track and field coach Morgan Leahy. I have a lot of appreciation for how flexible she was with my anxiety. There were many times before races where I would express doubt or break down crying, and she was always in my corner. Morgan made me feel valuable as a human instead of just a body that puts up fast times for the team. When I didn’t believe in myself, having her believe in me meant the world to me. I always wanted to impress her and gain her respect.

Morgan was great at finding little tricks to calm me down. She’s the reason why I was able to make it to state in the 100, 800, and 5K my sophomore year. I was very anxious about racing the 800 since that was my main event, so Morgan cleverly had me race the 100, too. The 100 was about an hour before the 800, so while I was warming up for it, I wasn’t stressing about the 800.

I’m grateful for how UPrep developed my relationship with running. I’ve heard stories about kids who were pushed too hard in high school, then burned out, and stopped running entirely. They fall out of love with it. But I still love running and training. My race anxiety has improved since high school and college, and I’ve found my own tricks to cope with the pressure of racing. I typically try to stay in shape year-round and I sign up for a race a few days before the scheduled event. I haven’t yet done a half marathon or full marathon, but I want to tackle a half before the spring.

Today, I work in human resources at Redfin and have enjoyed that the company has let me move around the department and gain experience in different HR sectors. I’m currently an associate HR business partner, and I help support employees and managers. I love the employee-facing aspect of my role and being able to serve as a resource to those who need me. While my job is now a big part of my life, I always tell people that being a runner is a big part of my identity—and that all started in 6th grade at UPrep. 

Read more about stories about UPrep alumni in the current UPrep Magazine.