College Diaries

Believe it or not, the indoor track and field season is already about one-third of the way through. Jan. 16 was the first time I competed at home and two weeks later on Jan. 30. There's such a different feeling about competing at my home track. Maybe it's the fact I know the track better than any other, giving me this level of comfort. The beneficial part of having a home meet means no extra traveling and being in bed earlier, which I am all for! The Rob and Patty Lydic Invitational at Ohio Northern was held on Jan. 16 to kick off the indoor season. I ran the 60-meter hurdles, 4x4 relay and did pole vault. Up first were the 60-meter hurdles which I had never run before in my life! The time I ran was respectable according to what my coach had to say and made my way into finals seeded with the fastest time. Once finals came around, my coach told me to just focus on pole vault. I started warmups for pole vault and felt good leading up to competition time. I jumped 11-2 which is st...

 The scariest part about social media may be the fact that once someone says something, it is out there for everyone to see. Think about coaches and players of teams who have slipped up in a post-game interview on a national stage. While I know none of us are as closely followed online as professionals are, the same applies to us. One statement said wrong, and there is no taking it back. That is why it is crucial to not only think before talking but posting! In chapter two, social media etiquette is touched on, but I’d like to elaborate on it more. More attention needs to be brought to this topic. When I scroll on TikTok there are countless hate comments no matter the influencer’s page I am on. Do these people wish they had a delete button after publishing their hurtful comment? Think about if your future boss saw something you commented and regretted immediately. Would they still hire you? Even if you are angry at someone on social media, you should not act out of your own strif...

Friday January 23 was my very first away track and field meet of my collegiate career. We were told the previous night that the bus left at 8 a.m. in the morning and pole vaulters needed to be there by 7:30 a.m. to load poles! I set my alarm for 6:20 a.m., packed my stuff, and made sure to go to bed early the night before. Once Friday morning came, I was wide awake and ready to go. I started the morning by putting my uniform on and doing my hair. Once that was done, I made myself breakfast before walking over to Kinghorn in the negative degrees. When I got there, the pole vault poles were already loaded so I just had to worry about getting a good seat on the bus. We traveled over two hours to Hillsdale College in Michigan where we began the start of a fourteen-hour day. When I got to the meet, I had to immediately start warming up because the sixty-meter hurdles were first. Once my teammates and I warmed up and did drills, it was race time! In prelims I beat my personal record from m...

As the second semester of my freshman year begins, a class titled principles of social media is on the schedule! While I was originally not supposed to be in this class, I believe it will be fun, and I will share some important notes along the way! Each week we are asked to look over the upcoming chapter and compose a critical analysis of reading blog over a specific part we may find interesting or what to focus on. For chapter one, I will dive into social media marketing! As a marketing and sport management student with a minor in social media, this section of the chapter spoke to me the most. I have recently found a passion for marketing in social media, especially if it involves sports. Being able to combine my interests of marketing and social media is something I am all for. It was really cool to be able to read about this topic and understand how brands could do better. In terms of social media marketing, businesses must develop a strategy. If a particular business can’t acco...

 A lot of people may be questioning why I trust a stick to launch me into the air just to clear another one, and that's just the hidden beauty of pole vault! Before I get into why I chose this rather out of the ordinary event, you may be wondering, what is pole vault? In simple terms, it’s just trusting a stick to propel me over a bar. However, the event of pole vault is much more complex and technical than just that. Pole vault in the sport of track and field is categorized as a field event in which athletes run down a runway using a fiberglass, flexible pole, to propel themselves over a horizontal bar that varies in height.  Ever since I was young, I have lived for an adrenaline rush. I always said, “the taller, the faster, the better,” as nothing seemed to scare me. I grew up playing every sport under the sun, track and field being one of them. I can remember when I was around five years old, my parents signed me up for a youth running team. I would show up to practice and...