Do you watch that new TV show Glee? It’s right up my alley. Dorky kids, the outcasts of the high school, singing their hearts out under the direction of one VERY hot teacher. Sounds like my high school experience…minus the hot teacher, that is. I was in the high school choir, the girls’ barbershop quartet and the National Honor Society. I never hung with the popular kids, unless they wanted help with their homework or something. I was valedictorian of my high school, aka Nerd Extraordinaire.
On top of all of that, I was a dork. No kidding. I thought derivatives, and the ability to work them, were cool. I enjoyed having study groups on Friday nights (you know, with all the other dorks), as we prepared for our AP exams. …and I wondered why the only dances I went to were the Sadie Hawkins dances (where the girl asks the guy)…
I know some of you out there are saying, “Well, Jo, not much has changed.” And I guess some of you are right. I am still a dork. But the difference is that now, as an adult, I don’t care what other people think like I did when I was in high school. And I owe that attitude to Team In Training.
When I started with Team In Training, I lacked self-confidence…and I was terrified of the possibility of failing. But after the first few weeks, I realized I had nothing of which to be scared. The people involved in the community of Team In Training exude hospitality. I was SO excited about the possibility of not only becoming an athlete, but also of becoming a good athlete, that I almost immediately starting asking about how I could become faster, better, stronger. My coach and team mentors just smiled and nodded: I had caught the bug. But the bug wasn’t necessarily about being an athlete. It was about being accepted. And I was.
That’s one of the reasons I love Team In Training so much: everybody fits. Sure, I’m still a dork. But I’m happy to be a dork if it means finding a cure for cancer.
Next week: Rant on Dating v. Training
Thanks for helping me learn that being a dork is cool!
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