I am a senior who is likely to be the valedictorian at my high school (120 people in my class). For the last 3 years I have done Cross Country despite my love for the sport fading. I joined the team three years ago because of some advice I heard about being well rounded. I am not super athletic and have ran JV each year with no real shot of making Varsity. I hesitantly signed up for Cross Country this year because I had such a poor season last year-I ran bad and was extremely sore every day to the point where getting out of bed was somewhat painful. So far, I have went to three practices this year and have consistently been the last one finishing runs. Not only that, but the soreness/pain I experienced for the entire season has returned and will probably not go away. To this point, I have lost all love I had for the sport and am seriously considering quitting. Over the past three years, Cross Country hasn’t really affected my academics, but it is such a serious time commitment and I could really use extra time to work on my applications and essays.
The only concern I have with quitting is how it will look on my application. I do other more enjoyable extra curricular activities, but none are close to the time commitment of Cross Country. I am a member of two bands at my school, the youth ministry program, and NHS. A few years ago I co-founded a Science Olympiad club with one of my friends, but unfortunately it didn’t run last year because no one signed up. I also am a co-religion teacher at my local Church, teaching 7th graders with my Mom. I work two jobs, but Cross Country would make me quit one and severely reduce the hours on the other.
I feel like four years of a tough sport like Cross Country would really complete my application, but I could really use some extra time this fall. I took the SAT and ACT once each, getting a 1460 and 33, respectively and would like to at the very least, take two SAT subject tests this fall, if not a whole new test. I plan on applying to some Ivy League schools, and am unsure if I should continue something that makes me physically and mentally miserable. I have little to no direction for what I want to do in college and I feel like some free time would certainly help.