Her name is Klarissa Stovall and she is 20 years young. At her college she participates in their Track and Field program and in Klarissa’s words, “Track is practice, hard work, and one foot in front of the other. Track is more about endurance, than speed. It has the attitude of ‘quick, get it done,’” she says with the confident snap of her fingers.

Her story: She always loved to run. She played basketball for a while and in high school she decided on a whim one day to tryout for the track team. “I just wanted to do something off season,” says Klarissa. When she arrived on the track team she did not know what she was getting her self into. In a good way of course! “I had a phenomenal coach and ever since then I could never give up running, no matter how early I have to get up, I just love it so much!”

Following her heart and her gut instinct, Klarrissa discovered her true passion. Her father was a cross country runner, her mother was an aquatic athlete, her younger sister is a cheerleader, and her cousins played basketball. As you can see, Klarrissa comes from an athletic family, and though she may not be the first one in her family to play sports, she’s the first one to do track! Which has become something that is very close to her heart and that she can call her own.

“My cousins played basketball and I was just kind of following in their foot steps, and I liked it but I was not as good at it as my cousins were. So I thought to myself, let’s do track, something that I really want to do. And I loved it!,” tells Klarissa.

Klarissa reveals her personal definition of what track is: “Motivation, heart, and it doesn’t matter on your skill. All that matters is that you know you have the heart to finish the race. And you know whoever slows down the most is gonna’ lose. So if you have the heart, determination, and that drive, that is what track is!,” Klarisa shares with a passion.

Klarissa also added, “I believe that even if you come out to the track field slow...as long as you have the heart and determination, you can train to be great. The coach will teach you all you need to know, and you will become fast. So all you truly need is heart and determination. My favorite thing about track is the sportsmanship in a race. It is just good knowing my team has my back and to be around all these people who are positive and want you to do well and want to see you succeed.”

Klarrissa also wants you to remember, “No matter how many times you fall down, just keep getting up. Don’t ever let anybody discourage you. Don’t listen to anybody who tell you that, ‘ your not worth it. You’re not fast enough, or not good enough. No matter what sport you play, just get up and keep going! Don’t ever, ever look down on yourself.”

Klarrissa is such a wonderful person with so much passion and self motivated flame. She has a heart of a champion and it is this flame that is what makes her queen of the track field at her college. I challenge you, the next time you want to try a sport, or anything in life, but you are scared you aren’t good enough, to challenge yourself! Remember to be your own personal self motivator, stay positive, and be your number one role model.

-Lizzie Nguyen