Deonta Hubbard '12 Recruiting Profile

   Deonta Hubbard

            It was the last meet we had to play in order to secure our spot in the state competition.  I was the captain of my high school’s track team.  Never before had I felt the pressure of this huge responsibility until now.  When I found out that I was going to be captain, I was very happy and proud of my past effort that got me to where I was now. I knew that everything was all on me now; this was my team, and I was there to guide them into the winning circle. We had to establish trust before even consider moving forward and winning together.  Throughout the year, I was in charge of coordinating practice and collecting fees for uniforms and trips.  I liked helping my team, and they looked up to me. 

The final meet was different than every other race we had run.  I had to be the motivating force for my entire team that day to determine our future success in the competition.  After all of our hard work and training, we were finally ready for the day that was going to change the way we felt about track. My team was excited to run, and so was I. When the race started, we were in the lead, and then suddenly, it all changed. We made a mistake: one of our teammates bumped into another girl, and we were disqualified.  We ended up coming in last place; it was so heartbreaking. I felt like it was my fault, that I was a failure as the captain. My team was disappointed in each other, and that made me feel even worse. I didn’t want my team to feel this way. I didn’t want them to start blaming each other and thinking that this would be the end, but it was too late.

They had begun to argue; I wasn’t expecting it to go that far. I was confused about what was going to happen. I didn’t want them to feel like they had to give up. I knew as the captain I had the duty to stand by my team no matter what was happening, so I made the decision that any captain that was true to their team would:  I called for an emergency meeting. I talked to them about how we were a team, and I talked to them about how we were supposed to stick together.  Although this was the last meet of this season, this wasn’t the end of track, so we should keep trying for next year.  They were quiet at first, but they understood.  Then we all talked it out and made up. I told them that is was alright to be upset, but at the same time, it was not alright to take it out on your teammates. We all have different ways of dealing with things and working together should be the thing to turn to.

Helping my team has helped me to realize what it is like to be a leader and how determined I have to be to have a good influence on others around me. To me, the track team was like another family. They looked up to me as I looked up to them. They were there when I needed them to help me keep my head up. This experience showed me that everybody needs somebody to guide them in the right direction or to push them a step further.  I plan to use this experience in college as a key to my future and to help me through other situations that may occur later on in life.