Balanced Meal without the Balanced For the longest time, I thought being healthy was just eating vegetables. Not that I would eat them - Oreos were tastier. I lived with the philosophy of limited exercise and dessert with every meal. From 6th to 7th grade, I gained nearly 20 pounds and brought myself up to my all time high of 155 pounds. I never really cared until the start of 8th grade. I read a book where the protagonist casually mentioned running five miles, and I wondered why I couldn’t do that. It was those little questions that made me notice my body and realize I wanted to get my weight in order. I took up running at RecPlex, walking at night with my mom, and daily sit ups. Unfortunately, I still thought being healthy meant exercising and eating nothing. I stopped eating dessert, but also breakfast and sometimes lunch. I prided myself on how long I could go without eating. This caused me to nearly fall over whenever I stood up, and even occasionally faint. Others told me my lifestyle was unhealthy, but I ignored them. The weight was finally coming off, and I focused on that rather than my constant grogginess and headaches. At my lowest, I weighed 124 pounds, though I wished to be 120. Weighing myself became a daily thing. On the days I was 128 or 129 pounds, I called myself fat. After a year of adjusting to these unhealthy habits, Covid brought it all to a screeching halt. I regained 23 pounds after a year of eating junk food and lying on the couch. When I finally returned to school, I realized I needed to get back in shape. I would have restarted my previous diet, but fortunately my health class had just begun a nutrition section. I hadn’t heard about the four basic food groups since kindergarten, so for the longest time I assumed they weren’t important. Health class opened my eyes to everything I was missing, and I started thinking about how to nourish my body. Though it’s unhealthy to eat a dozen Oreos, I shouldn’t shy away from all calories. It’s okay to eat avocado because it contains good fat, and enjoying a sweet treat isn’t the end of the world. Eating also goes hand in hand with exercise. My friend and I go to the gym twice a week, and she always makes sure that I eat protein to help with my soreness. On the other days, I make a point to walk at least an hour a day and eat a good meal afterward. I no longer feel lightheaded when I stand up, and I feel more alert and energetic. It amazes me how long I managed without eating balanced meals. I’m still learning about nutrition and exercise, and I would be lying if I said I had it all figured out. There are still days when I want to skip breakfast or eat gummy bears and raisins instead of lunch. Waking up earlier on school days to eat breakfast isn't exactly fun either. But as I learn more and more about what it means to be healthy, the better I feel both internally and externally. I now weigh a healthy 135 pounds, and I’m happy with how I look and feel. I wish I had always known what I do now, but the best I can do is not repeat my previous mistakes. This journey with health has been a roller coaster, but I’m finally taking the bull by the horns and I won’t ever let go.

Quadruple Bogey I’m really bad at golf. Yes, I’m fully aware of it. I know the ball isn’t supposed to land in a sand trap or hook left. I know I’m not supposed to score in the high 50s on a nine-hole course. I’ve known that for the past three years, yet here I am finishing my fourth year on the high school golf team. It amazes me that I got this far. My motive for joining the team freshman year was as bad as my actual skills. I had watched a documentary in eighth grade about eight-year-old pro golfers and decided that I could play better than them. That first time I went to the driving range with my grandpa’s too-tall, right-handed clubs, I found out just how good those eight-year-olds really were. But despite being mostly unable to hit the ball off the tee that first day, the game was too intriguing for me to admit defeat. After months of practicing at the driving range, my mom believed in me enough to buy me my very own set of golf clubs. Every time I managed to slice a ball to reach the 100-yard flag - well, it looked like it reached if I squinted enough - I smiled to myself. Slowly, I was making progress. Not an ounce of fear pulsed in me as I walked into the first day of golf tryouts. That arrogance evaporated twenty minutes later when I realized I didn’t bring tees, a glove, or on-course experience. Over the next three hours, I played nine holes and lost four balls. At one point, I managed the most beautiful hit of my life - until it hit a tree and ricocheted into the water. By the time I dragged myself to the last hole, I was sweaty, thirsty, and deflated. So imagine my shock when the coach said he saw potential in all of us and decided to not cut anyone that year. The idea of embarrassing myself in front of my skilled teammates was unappealing, but there was no way I would deny myself this amazing opportunity, especially with the faith of my mom and coach. When I got home, I used my new coach’s advice to improve my golf stroke and kept practicing until it became semi-natural. Though my ego was crushed, I went to the golf course every day to practice. Somehow, I was going to figure out the difference between chipping and pitching, and learn how to shoot less than seven strokes per hole. After almost four seasons of practice and meets, I’ve lost dozens of golf balls, disturbed many birds, and nearly hit my golf coach with a ball twice. Yet I keep coming back. I wish I could say my journey is like one of those movies where the protagonist has a training montage before becoming the best. Unfortunately, I won’t be the next Tiger Woods anytime soon, but I’ve known that since the first day of tryouts. I focus on the smaller goals instead: getting out of the sand with one swing, hitting straight, and attaining a lower score than I could yesterday. In the general ranking of the team, I’m still one of the worst. But to my amazing coach and me, my development is astounding. Even when I four-putt a hole and my teammates are giving me sympathetic glances, the desire for the next shot to be better will always keep me going. Yes, I may struggle, but as long as I keep inching myself away from mediocrity and towards decency, I’ll never leave the course.

mias__13 Best back-to-school tip: Go out of your way to say hello to school friends that you lost touch with during the summer. Rationale: Many times, people have friends that they don't talk to outside of school. It's common for me to meet a new person in class and talk to them throughout the year during that shared class. It's easy to stop talking to them once summer comes along, and you lose that bond once school comes back, since a school year or semester is often not enough time to develop a longstanding friendship. As a result, you can feel lonely in a class filled with strangers by the time the next school year starts. By going out of your way to talk to those old friends, you're hopefully strengthening your bond so that you can, at the least, have a more social experience in classes. You can even grow that bond so that you change your school friendship to a friendship that lasts everywhere.

Balanced Meal without the Balanced For the longest time, I thought being healthy was just eating vegetables. Not that I would eat them - Oreos were tastier. I lived with the philosophy of limited exercise and dessert with every meal. From the year between 6th and 7th grade, I gained nearly 20 pounds and brought myself up to my all time high of 155 pounds. I never really cared until the start of 8th grade. I read a book where the protagonist casually mentioned running five miles, and I wondered why I couldn’t do that. It was those little questions that made me notice my body and realize I wanted to get my weight in order. I took up running at RecPlex, walking at night with my mom, and daily sit ups. Unfortunately, I still thought being healthy meant exercising and eating nothing. I stopped eating dessert, but also breakfast and sometimes lunch. I prided myself on how long I could go without eating. This caused me to nearly fall over whenever I stood up, and even occasionally faint. Others told me my lifestyle was unhealthy, but I ignored them. The weight was finally coming off, and I focused on that rather than my constant grogginess and headaches. At my lowest, I weighed 124 pounds, though I wished to be 120. Weighing myself became a daily thing. On the days I was 128 or 129 pounds, I called myself fat. After a year of adjusting to these unhealthy habits, Covid-19 brought it all to a screeching halt. I regained 23 pounds after a year of eating junk food and lying on the couch. When I finally returned to school, I realized I needed to get back in shape. I would have restarted my previous diet, but fortunately my health class had just begun a nutrition section. I hadn’t heard about the four basic food groups since kindergarten, so for the longest time I assumed they weren’t important. Health class opened my eyes to everything I was missing, and I started thinking about how to nourish my body. Though it’s unhealthy to eat a dozen Oreos, I shouldn’t shy away from all calories. It’s okay to eat avocado because it contains good fat, and enjoying a sweet treat isn’t the end of the world. Eating also goes hand in hand with exercise. My friend and I go to the gym twice a week, and she always makes sure that I eat protein to help with my soreness. On the other days, I make a point to walk at least an hour a day and eat a good meal afterward. I no longer feel lightheaded when I stand up, and I feel more alert and energetic. It amazes me how long I managed without eating balanced meals. I’m still learning about nutrition and exercise, and I would be lying if I said I had it all figured out. There are still days when I want to skip breakfast or eat gummy bears and raisins instead of lunch. But as I learn more and more about what it means to be healthy, the better I feel both internally and externally. I now weigh a healthy 135 pounds, and I’m happy with how I look and feel. I wish I had always known what I do now, but the best I can do is not repeat my previous mistakes. This journey with health has been a roller coaster, but I’m finally taking the bull by the horns and I won’t ever let go.