Skylah Strawser '24 Recruiting Profile

Hello! My name is Skylah Strawser and for the past eight years, I have been enjoying the small-town life in Indiana with my step-dad, mom, older sister, and step-sister. However, for the first part of my life, I grew up in southern Louisiana with both of my parents and my older sister. While I may not have been able to control my parents' divorce I was a kid who hated conflict, so I tried my best to just roll with it.  After moving to Indiana I decided to get involved in soccer and at the time it was my passion. I was involved with club soccer, participated on a traveling team, and was a member of the school team. Then each spring I would run sprints as part of the track and field team throughout my middle school years.  My mom and grandparents continued to try to get me to do distance in track, but I refused. I thought that sprints were the only thing I wanted to do. However, in my 8th-grade year my favorite teacher, who also happened to be the cross country coach, talked me into doing cross country that fall. I absolutely fell in love with the sport! There was something about the freedom I felt each time I ran. I decided that I wanted to stay conditioned over the winter months in between cross country and track. Therefore, I decided to try another new sport, swimming. I was absolutely terrible! It was definitely a runner and not a swimmer. My coach would constantly tell me that it looked like I was trying to run in the water. While it may not have been my sport, I still had a great time and stayed well-conditioned. I had a goal that spring to break the 400-meter record and I was determined to do it. Then the pandemic hit and everything stopped!

I felt like I was stabbed in the heart because running is my passion and without it, I felt like I had nothing else, so I would go on runs daily so I would not lose everything I had worked for. Running during the pandemic is what kept me going because I felt disconnected from everyone because I was no longer able to see the people I cared about most, Which is when my depression and anxiety started to show the most. Running is what has helped me get through everything because when I am running I feel free like nothing else in the world matters. I feel powerful when I am running. Which is another reason why I love running.

 In January,  our community was hit with heartache, as we lost two close friends in a car accident. Then if that wasn't hard enough, several of us were quarantined after attending our first friend's funeral and were unable to attend the funeral for our second friend.  Therefore, we felt like we never got the actual closure that so many of us needed.  As my classmates and I were still coping to deal with the loss of our classmates/friends, we were then devasted again by the news of losing one of our favorite teachers unexpectedly in March. While this year has definitely been the hardest year of my life - I have relied on my passion for running to get me through it. Now each time I run I know I am not only running for myself, but I am running for those that I have lost.  When I feel like giving up I remember why I am running not just for myself but for Mr.Neal, Kayden, and Leak. They would not want me to give up on something, they would want me to keep going and pushing no matter the circumstances are, and that's what I do, I never give up. I push through until the very end.

As I look into moving to the collegiate level of running, I am looking forward to being part of a team that strives for great sportsmanship. While winning is a great feeling, it isn't everything to me. It is about so much more for me. It is about the valuable lessons that I can't wait to learn and experience.  Each player of a team has their own story and will play a valuable part in the team. Being a part of a team that pushes one another to be the best they can is the type of team that is important to me too. Nothing about being on a team should be about 'I' except how can 'I' help contribute to the 'Team'. In the end I hope to be a part of a team that is more like a family.