Not an All A’s School Report

If you have ever met someone with a pale face, short breaths, and a trembling body, you might conclude that they are extremely anxious, and you might even ask to help. In some people’s circumstances, they get uneasy when they are about to do a public speech, proposal, or they might be doing something for the first time ever. For my case, those are the symptoms when I was going to have my P.E. test.
In my country, sports or physical activities are not considered important. My family has never gone hiking, backpacking, or played any sports together. They prefer sitting indoors, watching television, or going on relaxing trips after a day of working. It’s not that I am against any of these outdoor activities. I used to spend a day from seven in the morning to four at school, then got on the bus to go to after school extra classes for English, math, anything I ever needed to pass the high school examination and go to a good college. I usually came home at around ten in the evening just to have some left overs from dinner and sat right on the table to do homework, getting ready for the day after. I actually liked the schedule; it gave me a feeling that I was really hard-working and diligent and a certainty that I would definitely get into a top school.Moreover, I wanted my transcript to look good and I thought extra classes helped boost my grades. You can call it a trend in my country because no one I have ever known not go to extra classes and spend a day like that. At parents meetings, mothers discuss which English centers are good or open an after-school class for their children so they can improve altogether. This is even worse in public schools (I went to a private school) where head teachers in schools open the extra classes themselves. I don’t blame them to be honest; teachers’ wages are nowhere near enough to make ends meet. Universities have courses throughout the year for high school students to prepare themselves for the examination. All in all, to find a free spot in my schedule to have enough sleep and relax is already hard, let alone time for physical activities.
Everything changed when I decided to go to study abroad in Dallas, Texas. It was a quick decision, and I prepared everything in a span of three months. Like every Asian stereotype, I aced all my class, earned great trust from teachers, all but one class: Physical education.
I can still recall that day when my coaches told us we were having a running test. The rule was simple: fewer than eight minutes for an A and more than thirteen minutes and you would fail. The class was divided in two groups to run out in the track (there were seventy students in the class, it was an overcrowded school in my opinion), I was in the latter group. I was not worried at all when we started running. The first round was fine, but I can started to feel something in my stomach growling when it was the second round. My lungs desperately asked for more air and my throat tasted like metal. My legs felt like they were bitten by hundreds of ants, as though they were mine anymore. All other friends have passed me, and I resolved to just walk. The sun came out – or I wondered if it had always been there – and it made me dizzy. The wind was very strong when we ran, I felt like I almost got blown away. I tried to jogged again and then walked, jogged and walked, then reached to the finish line with all the coaches’ cheers. I could not make out what they were saying, I felt like throwing up. Everyone else had finished their course before me, waiting for me to come so the class is finished. It was the longest thirteen minutes and twenty-six seconds in my life.
I failed the test as expected. The first class I ever failed miserably like that. I thought the suffering was over until I heard that running would also be included in finals. I could not let my grades down like that. I had to do something. For the first time in my life, I wanted to do well, to get an A in P.E.
I started running after school, trying every way possible to reduce my time. Even as I practiced, I started to get nervous before running. At first it was painful. I tried to run while listening to music, listening to a podcasts but my own heavy breathing thundered on all those noises. The day in Texas was relentless and hot, running at three in the afternoon felt like the hottest time of the day. I usually came home dying from the heat and had all my limbs sore the next morning.
Finally that day came. We divided into five different groups this time. I was in the third group. Watching all my friends running was torturous. I could not help but think how I would do this time. I heard my heart shaking so badly that I have to pinch my hand to think about something else. When the coach blew her whistle, I tried to calm myself to run. I still had to stop for breath at times, but the whole process was much faster than the first time. I could not help but cried out in joy when I reached the finish line. My legs were still burning, I was still out of breath, my lungs were still craving for more air, but with each lumps of air I inhaled, I felt even more happy.
I completed the test with ten minutes and three seconds for a B. Throughout the whole year running was a struggle, a pressure that I put on myself, and I’m proud that I can reach the finish line in the end. Even though I didn’t get what I wanted, an A, but I have another thing in return for putting all my effort into this class: confidence.