Emmanuel: In one word, what are you un-associated with?

Dakota: Negativity. 

1. What is your passion, and how did you discover that passion?

D: My passion is track. I love running with all my heart, and I’m willing to put a lot of time and effort into getting better. I’m always trying to improve myself. I’ve been doing track since freshman year—I did soccer before that—and with track I learned a lot about being… not hard on myself, but being strict. Like I couldn’t always go out because I had to do homework, or I had track practice, or a track meet. I learned to be.. not necessarily strict, but..

E: ..Disciplined. 

D: Yeah, I learned a lot of discipline. And I learned about what really matters to me in life. Like with track, I would have to eat healthy; I couldn’t just eat Hot Cheetos before practice, or I would feel that on the track. And then on top of that, [I learned] to motivate people, and to motivate myself to do track. Most people use running as a punishment, but I love to do it. The sport of track is very different. Everyone thinks, “Oh, you’re just a runner,” or “Oh, you’re just a sprinter,” but it’s much more than that. It’s so hard to sprint, and especially to sprint fast. Even though you’re sprinting for a short amount of time, you have to [develop] sprinting endurance. You have to be able to sprint for a really long time. Especially with the 400… (laughs) It’s a lot harder than people think. You have to have the right form, you have to get out of the blocks fast, and you have to be able to finish, ‘cause most people? They get tired at the end. They get tired at the end, and their time is slow. So it’s like… even when you think you’re kinda fast, in reality, you’re kinda slow. But it’s all about improving yourself. You need to work harder and harder, like with lifting. I’ve learned a lot about my body: learned what my body can take and how to treat it, making sure I stretch, etc. etc. These are things that most people just look over, but that I’ve learned are very important.

2. What reminds you that you have a purpose on this Earth?

D: When I see people who are sad, speaking really negatively, or just not motivated, I’ll try to sprinkle some positive words unto them. I hate seeing people sad. I hate seeing people who are unmotivated or always talking negatively. I feel like it’s because they’re already down on themselves, and I want to bring them up. I don’t want to change them; the only thing I wanna help with is changing the mindset, [developing] the growth mindset. Having a fixed mindset is like saying “I don’t wanna do this,” or “I don’t wanna do that”… well then, you’re not gonna! Like especially in the morning, if you’re always talking to yourself like, “I don’t wanna go to class,” or “I don’t wanna wake up,” you’re already speaking negatively upon yourself, and you’re basically holding yourself back. So what I like to do instead is say, “I’m going to wake up, and I’m going to make this the best day ever.” Make it a great day! I always like to think and speak positively about things, because especially when something really bad happens, [positivity] helps me take what I’ve learned and move forward. I try not to stay in the same spot for too long because the world keeps going. Time doesn’t stop for anybody. It’s easier to learn from [whatever you’re going through] and not do it again the next time. 

3.What is your source of confidence?

D: My source of confidence is myself, and I find my confidence through positive and motivational quotes online, videos on Youtube, and TED Talks. I like watching really positive TED Talks— or not necessarily positive, but about someone going through something and learning from that. I really appreciate growth, and seeing people learn from [that growth]. Every day, and especially before track meets—at night, too—I’ll listen to motivational videos. It doesn’t necessarily need to be about running, but they’re all about being your best you, the best version of yourself. It helps me tackle life. 

4. What’s your biggest fear?

D: My biggest fear is giving up on myself, because if I give up on myself, I will not accomplish what I’m trying to achieve in life. And what I’m trying to really achieve in life is to create a business and become a billionaire— not for the money, but to give back to society. I want to try to give people chances they weren’t given before. And I want to establish a scholarship for the track team, so that people who are walk-ons or don’t have enough money can actually go to school. School’s not cheap, and they work really hard to get here, so it would suck to not be able to come. So I can’t give up on myself. There’s a lot that I want to do. I’m not even done yet. If I give up on myself, I’m going back, and I don’t want to go back: I’m trying to go forward.

5. What’s one message you have for the world?

D: A message I have for the world is that the obstacles you face don’t have to stop you. Face them. Forgive yourself, and whoever or whatever that obstacle is. Take your time, but don’t wait too long. Do it right the first time; don’t leave anything open-ended. Know where you want to be, and understand that you will need to sacrifice things for what you want, or what you want will become the sacrifice.

6. I do want to elaborate on that point, ‘cause you did talk about the sacrifices that you’ve made, like not going places, not being able to eat certain things, etc. I think a big epidemic in the lives of youth is FOMO: the fear of missing out. How have you been able to combat that? ‘Cause I know there are probably times where you’ve got all of your friends going out, but you have to focus on other things.

D: Well, honestly, if I can compare a party to going to a state championship, or a party compared to being able to travel across the country to New York… I mean, there’s always going to be another party, and doing things that most people won’t be able to experience is not missing out on anything. It seems like they’re missing out, too. There’s always going to be another party. I can always eat junk food in the off season, I guess.. but it’s not even really worth it, because that will put me at a different setback. I would rather put my effort towards trying to travel across the country to compete, or trying to be the best in the country to compete even farther. And it’s not even just about track. Like instead of a party, I’d rather spend this Saturday night with my family. Or I’d rather spend this Saturday night doing facials and watching movies with my friends. You can go out and party at any point in your life. I feel like the stories that I can tell my grandchildren will be better if I’m saying that I was traveling and doing what I love, instead of that I was staying out all night, partying all day.. (laughs) It’s better to be able to say that I lived a great life doing everything that I loved. And I don’t necessarily like to party; I love to run track and travel. It’s about perspective. (laughs)

7. Could you just reiterate why you said you’re un-associated with negativity?

D: I’m un-associated with negativity because I feel like when I think negative thoughts, I put myself down, and I make myself stay in the same spot. And if I keep telling myself negative things, I don’t think I’m going anywhere. I may even be going backwards. I’m not using my time wisely, and time doesn’t wait for anybody. Life is so short, and I’d rather not waste it. So if I keep myself positive and am always trying to move forward, I’m gonna get more out of life than if I just say “I hate this, I hate this,” “I don’t want to do that,” etc. I feel like I just make myself more sad, or more stuck [when I’m thinking like that]. When people are sad, they don’t wanna go anywhere. They wanna stay in their beds or stay in their rooms. So if I’m more positive and thinking about growing or doing more things, I will be out there, accomplishing my dreams.

8. Finally, do you ever see positivity conflicting with realism, or your ability to be realistic? How do you maneuver through that? 

D: Well, when I have to face something head-on and I’m trying to be positive, obviously I’m realistic, but at the same time, I don’t try to look at it like… (pause) For example, say I got a C in a class. I’m not telling myself, “You suck! You got a C in the class?” I’ll tell myself, “No, no, no. It’s not over yet. You’ve still got more homework, you got more tests, you gotta talk to the teacher, and if you can’t get the C up this quarter, then next year, you can start over again.” I don’t think anything is “the end”; I always tell myself that I gotta keep it going. So I guess my positivity is based around me keeping it going. I try not to stay in the same spot. Being real is me facing [the situation], and being positive is me moving with it.