Cross Country??

Lately I have had some trouble making a decision. I'm having trouble deciding whether or not to continue Cross Country this year. For the past three years I've run many miles during the summer, started practice three weeks before school gets out, cutting my summer short, then practicing everyday after school and going to meets once in awhile. But now, I have a slight desire to break that habit. I'm thinking of just not joining Cross Country this year. it's not that I just am lazy and don't want to run anymore. I have reasons, that seem to me, to justify this desire.

~Last year I was in Cross Country and then the musical came around. I really wanted to try out. I didn't think I'd get a good part but I thought I'd audition. I prepared for it more than any audition before. When I went in there I told Mr. Haugen, his wife, and Mrs. Evenson that I was just going to try out solely for a main role and if I wasn't good enough then I'd not want a part because I didn't want to do Cross Country and the musical. If I got a main part then I'd quit Cross Country. Well I got a main part and I quit Cross Country. Coach Popp told me I would've run at state but the musical was better than winning state. So my point is... Why join Cross Country again and quit once the musical starts?

~Another reason I have is my schedule next year. I'm taking (AP stands for Advanced placement, it's a college level course) AP Literature, AP American History, AP Spanish 5, AP Spanish 6, AP Music Theory, College Prep Chemistry, Pre-Calculus, World Geography (Credit by Assessment), and finally Band and Choir. I don't want to waist time doing a sport that I don't love and struggle to get homework done. During Track it'll be different because I love Track. So not doing Cross Country will help my grades.

~Music. That's a reason. I never thought that I would but I think I'm getting somewhere in music. This past school year I surprisingly was accepted into All-State Choir. I was very surprised considering the people who were auditioning because only 6 people from Willmar could get in. Shelby Morton, Shelly Sommers, Tessa Anderson, Tiffany Seu, Trey Haugen, Nate Tusa, Sarah Floren, Josh Serbus, Miriah Nellermoe, Ryan Freitas, Josh Freitas, and more. All of these people, I thought are like, amazing! I'll never get in. And also I've really improved on my trumpet this year. Not many will know what I'm talking about but I can now double tongue, hit over 10 high C's in a parade, get even higher than that, play musically, etc. If I can focus more on my trumpet than I think I can have a chance at making Phantom Regiment, a drum and bugle core that I am planning to audition for in November around Thanksgiving in Illinois, with the help of Mr. Mara. This would be a dream come true. To be a part of something like that would make me cry, seriously. Also, if I can work hard on vocal skills and my trumpet, I think I can get some pretty good scholarships. I have a friend, Patrick Hand, he received a full scholarship to a 2-year college in Mississippi for his Trumpet. That would help a lot. So if I quit Cross Country, I'd have so much more time to focus on these things which I love.

~I'm not very good at Cross Country. I mean I can get in the top 5 out of 100 in a JV race and close to the top half or so in a varsity race but I'm not good. So really, Cross Country won't get me anywhere in life. I can get somewhere in life with music. Whether it be scholarships or being a professional musician.

Although I have these reasons, there are reasons to stay in Cross Country. It's so much fun. It's like being part of a big family of people who all like the same thing. It teaches you a lot of things about life that you can take with you. And a great reason, it keeps me in shape. So I don't know what to do... Should I stay in Cross Country or just quit after 3 years of it?