The recursive writing process shares characteristics with many aspects in life. In my life, I can relate running cross country in high school to this writing process. While some may think “running is just running, what’s so hard about that?” they haven’t really experienced the full cross country running ordeal. When I first started running cross country, I was slow. I never wanted to join because I knew I sucked at running. I hated cardio and especially hated doing cardio with other people. One of the most difficult obstacles I faced was uphill/downhill running. The hills always slowed me down and while I would stop at the top and attempt to catch my breath, other runners would breeze past me. My coaches approached me about this problem and suggested new techniques such as leaning forward uphill, and slightly backward on downhills. This propels you up the hill or prevents you from tripping forward on downhill. After countless practices attempting this technique I was finally able to understand what they meant. By allowing my coaches to provide insight on the problem, I was able to perfect my technique. By the end of my first season, I had gone from being the slowest on the team, to one of our top 7 Western Mass competitors.
I agree! I’m a runner, and I’ve learned so much about the learning process from this sport. I’m so glad you’ve had this experience to fall back on when facing other challenges. Thanks for sharing!
Oh boy you go Girl! What an accomplishment, from one of the slowest to one of the fastest on your team, there must have been a significant amount of effort put into working to the top (of the team and of each hill). I was also a cross country runner so I can definitely relate on multiple levels. I was also a slow runner (and currently am one today, distance was not my event, I did cross country to hang out with my friends and get me in shape for the following track season). Outside of the literal running, I can relate on the recursive writing process as I feel that it is a process that you need to work towards mastering, or even just working on getting better each time, like you did with each hill as you applied the new techniques you learned.