Sophomore Paul Szmanda has been running track ever since 8th grade.  He is very devoted to volunteer work and school work, but he also puts in time for making improvements for the upcoming track and field season.  Smaznda pushes himself to achieve his many personal goals.

Q: When was the last time you won a track and field event?

A:  “The last time I won a track and field event was freshman conference.  I got two medals, I did not come in first place.  I think it was second in one race [which was] the hurdles the 110’s and then I got fourth place in the 300m hurdles.”

Q: When was the last time you had to push yourself out of your comfort zone?

A: “The last time I had to push myself out of my comfort zone was [during] sports when practice became a lot more frequent when I came into high school than it had been in 7th and 8th grade because in middle school..we didn’t have practice every day and only for..an hour whereas here it can go on for two hours each day after school.  I had to put a lot more effort into my time.”

Q: When was the last time you achieved a personal goal?

A: “A goal of mine was to get into AP US History because I do have higher expectations for myself….and [I wanted to] succeed in it.  I have gotten A’s on the only two quizzes….and [I have had to get used to] the whole time management thing with the AP [class].”

Q: When was the last time you got last in a race?

A: “We have two conferences, freshman conference which I did good at and regular conference which I didn’t do as good at.  In the high hurdles, the 110’s, I didn’t do bad, but in the intermediate hurdles, the 300’s, was when I think I got last place because it was my second race…and I have never been to good at the 300’s.”

Q: When was the last time you failed?

A: “Most of my goals are long term…and most of them I am trying to achieve.  I wanted to take Honors Spanish 3 this year and I did try my best on the finals last year at the end of the year.  I did get an A in the class, but my teacher apparently didn’t think I was good enough to take an Honors class in a Foreign Language.  I failed, but I would like to go onto AP Spanish next year.”