“Go run the hill!” Something I heard almost every day from our coaches last year. We were in the middle of the season and our regattas had already started. This practice, we had to sprint against the varsity girls crew. Us being the junior varsity crew, we lost and the consequence was to run the hill thirty times.
That season, I was the steerswoman and I was mostly responsible for the actions that my crew executed. I always felt accountable for any loss that we took, even if it was just during practice, but I didn’t really feel like a leader. To me, it was inane to think that I am better than anyone. I was the same as everyone else, but the only difference was that I had to sit in another seat and I had to keep the boat straight. It was already about six o‘clock and I didn’t want to run at all. Because paddling is during winter season, it was colder and practice that day felt demanding and I was exhausted. I thought to myself, “I can literally just give up at fifteen and finish the fifteen tomorrow.” I didn’t really care too much about it. It’s not like anyone payed attention to me while I was running anyways. Coaches were busy coaching, and everyone just kind of focused on themselves. We were about halfway to thirty and I heard these two girls saying, “You know what? I think I’ll just do them tomorrow. I’m so tired.” But there was this one girl, Nai’a and she kept going, and I just kept going with her. She kept persisting, she was determined to finish and I planned to finish with her, because I didn’t want her to be alone. We finished a few more hills and I already saw the girls walking down the hill saying, “Okay, you guys just wanna go then?” Nai’a just kept running and said, “Nah, I’ll stop when Zion stops.” All of the girls that wanted to stop just kept going. Obviously not because they wanted to, but more so because we kept going. I wasn’t really trying to set the bar, be an example or a leader… or anything of that matter. I wasn’t even good at running… but she didn’t look up to me for that, she looked up to me, because I wasn’t stopping. Most importantly I realized that people do pay attention to me. I realized that my actions affect more than myself. By just persisting, that could provide inspiration for my crew to keep going. They looked at me as a leader, and I started looking at myself as one too. I learned that being a leader… isn’t so much being better than everyone else. I definitely don’t run the best and I am surely not the best paddler… but I think after this, being a leader to me is just about the drive. I had heart, and unconditional love for what I did. Being a leader, it was never about being the best, or being the most talented. It was about how supportive I was of the team, and how much I was willing to do. How much drive I had. After all, being the best doesn’t matter if you don’t have the attitude for it. Eventually we finished all thirty hills that day, but ever since this practice, I payed attention more to what I did. I started to push more, motivate more, and be more dedicated. Every time we would run hills, or do sprints on land, I would just try to give it my all, because now I knew they were watching and I didn’t want to set the example of giving up. That was my crew and they depended on me to keep them up. When I finally looked at myself the way they looked at me, I just tried harder in everything that I did, and eventually it rubbed off on them. They had more motivation and I developed this mindset to keep going even if I feel like I’m going to throw up. Not just for myself, but more so for them because their attitude almost always reciprocates mines.
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“Go run the hill!” Something I heard almost every day from our coaches last year. We were in the middle of the season and our regattas had already started. This practice, we had to sprint against the varsity girls crew. Us being the junior varsity crew, we lost and the consequence was to run the hill thirty times.
That season, I was the steerswoman and I was mostly responsible for the actions that my crew executed. I always felt accountable for any loss that we took, even if it was just during practice, but I didn’t really feel like a leader. To me, it was inane to think that I am better than anyone. I was the same as everyone else, but the only difference was that I had to sit in another seat and I had to keep the boat straight. It was already about six ‘o clock and I didn’t want to run at all. My feet and legs were dirty from the mud and dirt at Keʻehi. Because paddling is during winter season, it was colder and practice that day felt demanding and I was exhausted. Running on the hill that day… I could barely feel anything. My legs were so tired, and I could barely feel my face because the air was fairly cold. I thought to myself, “I can literally just give up at fifteen and finish the fifteen tomorrow.” I didn’t really care too much about it. It’s not like anyone payed attention to me while I was running anyways. Coaches were busy coaching, and everyone just kind of focused on themselves. My crew and I were running for a good couple of minutes. Everyone was so exhausted that we barely had enough oxygen within us to speak. Usually we would be a loud group running up and down the hill, but the only thing I could really hear was heavy breathing. I really just wanted to quit, but something kept me going. Something always keeps me going because that’s just the type of person I was… to just put everything I have into the things that I love to do. We were about half way there and I heard these two girls saying, “You know what? I think I’ll just do them tomorrow. I’m so tired.” But there was this one girl, Nai’a and she kept going, and I just kept going with her. I wasn’t gonna leave her alone. She kept persisting, she was determined to finish and I was going to finish with her. We finished a few more hills and I already saw the girls walking down the hill saying, “Okay, you guys just wanna go then?” Nai’a just kept running and said, “Nah, I’ll stop when Zion stops.” All of the girls that wanted to stop just kept going. Obviously not because they wanted to, but more so because we kept going. In that moment, I just realized so much. I wasn’t really trying to set the bar, be an example or a leader… or anything of that matter. I just had the will to keep going, and I was always going to support my teammates. Most importantly I realized that people do pay attention to me. Some of them even look up to me. I realized that my actions affect more than myself. By just persisting, that could provide inspiration for my crew to keep going. They looked at me as a leader, and I started looking at myself as one too. I learned that being a leader… isn’t so much being better than everyone else. I definitely don’t run the best and I am surely not the best paddler… but I think after this, being a leader to me is just about the drive. I had heart, and unconditional love for what I did. Being a leader... It was never about being the best, or being the most talented. It was about how supportive you were of the team, and how much you were willing to do. How much drive you had. After all, being the best doesn’t matter if you don’t have the attitude for it. 41-942 OluOlu St.
Waimanalo, Hawaiʻi 96795 September 13, 2018 Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation 1000 Ulu'Ohi'a St #309 Kapolei, Hawaiʻi 96707 Dear Department of Parks and Recreation, My family, friends and I have been going to Keʻehi Lagoon Beach Park for many years. We have been returning because Keʻehi Lagoon Beach Park is where so many sporting events are held. However, many people, along with my family and friends have had problems with some safety issues at Keʻehi Lagoon Beach Park. Throughout the many years I have been coming here, many facilities are either constantly shutting down or they’re taking a very long time to repair. Roughly last year from October to March, the shower was shut down for a good amount of time (weeks to approximately a little over a month). I recently came to Keʻehi Lagoon Beach Park for HCRA States last month, and the shower was working, but one of the restrooms on the field were still off limits from the arson fire years ago, and the playground next to the restroom was still broken. I’s important that restrooms that are broken get attention, because they are used by the public. The bathroom that is broken is the closest one to the tennis courts, and so the people playing tennis would have to walk a bit further to get to the bathroom. As I was reading reviews on Google and Yelp, I read that some people were making other comments saying, “The tennis courts have large cracks in them, making for very dangerous play.” (Nat N.) Recently, a Salt Lake resident and his son were regularly helping to clean up the beach park, but after it got overwhelming, he said, “We can't do anything because it's a little bit too much for us. It's up to the people with machines and trucks and manpower to do it,” Ke’ehi Lagoon Beach Park has many facilities that are constantly being shut down or needs repair as soon as possible, and has also collected an immense amount of trash. I understand that there are about 300 parks on this island, and it’s difficult to keep up with each of them, but I feel Keʻehi Lagoon should be one of the priorities. I tried to call different park districts on the island, and although I didn’t get to find out how much parks were cleaned annually, and how parks were cleaned… The people I spoke to on the phone were friendly (which included people from the Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation, and West Honolulu Park District). I also understand that there is a maintenance crew that cleans up at the beach park, but a potential plan to effectively clean up the beach park would maybe be to use bigger equipment, such as a tractor. Keʻehi is home base to athletes that play tennis, football, baseball, softball, soccer, people who paddle and also to residents who visit here or choose this place to spend time with their family, etc. There are so many people that visit here annually and I feel that things that have been under repair for years, should be fixed soon. Through it all, Keʻehi Lagoon Beach Park will still be home to a lot of these events, and having the shower and the bathroom working (the one closest to the water) will do for now. I am grateful to have the two main facilities working as it has been a problem for a long time before. I have no objection to your policies, nor am I telling you how to run your job, but I truly feel that Keʻehi Lagoon Beach Park should be one of the priorities on the list when it comes to repairs, since it will affect many people who come here. Sincerely, Zion David-Ravey |
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May 2019
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