The Love Track

1. December to April of Senior Year, High School

As I opened the email from Elm, my heart was racing. It was my 18th birthday, December of my Senior year of high school. I had applied early decision to Elm College. Elm is a small liberal arts college in Pennsylvania. It's only a 40 minute drive down the road from my house. Far away enough to have my independence but also close enough to make it home for family events and holidays. Elm didn't have the highest acceptance rate and that's all I thought about as I pressed the link to find out if I was accepted or not. Due to the college being so close, many people in my area and in my high school looked at Elm the same as any other local college. In reality, Elm was a very prestigious school that attracted students from all over the country, even internationally. On one of my visits, I was shocked to learn that the percentage of students at Elm from Pennsylvania was only 7 percent. I knew that a degree from Elm would open a lot of doors. Plus, if I got in, I would be able to continue my football and track career. The football coach had been very open about his interest in having me on the team. The track coach had just recently reached out to me, but I wasn't exactly sure if I was being added to the team if I got into Elm. At the division 3 level, I figured I'd be able to handle both sport schedules. 

It was time to stop speculating my life if I got into Elm. The page refreshed and all it said on my computer screen was: "CONGRATULATIONS! YOU'VE BEEN ACCEPTED #ELM2026." I was so happy, I had played it risky and not applied to any safety schools, much to the dismay of my mother. But it had all worked out, I knew Elm was right for me. My parents hugged me and told me how proud and excited they were. 

Soon after learning I was accepted, I received a notification that I had been added to the group chat. Many of the contacts I had saved and recognized as other guys I had met during visits at Elm for football. The head coach texted: "Congrats fellas! I'm excited to get to work in August!" All the players took turns expressing their excitement. We then all added each other on Snapchat and took our conversation over there. I was so excited to continue playing football. My high school career had ended bitterly in a 21-14 loss in the second round of the playoffs. I didn't want that to be the last game of football I played. Now, Elm didn't have the best reputation in football. In fact, this previous season, they had gone 0-10. They had also never made the playoffs. But man did the coach sell the place to me. He was going into his 3rd year as head coach. And while he had yet to win a game, he was dealing with young players and was low on numbers. He was still very much rebuilding, and his message was that my class would be the class to help him get where he wanted. While the past of the football team was something to doubt, I was so committed to joining the team because of how effort the coaches had put into recruiting me. I received a call every week, and one of the assistant coaches even came to one of my games. I was excited to help turn the football program around.

... 

In February my high school had signing day for the college athletes. I signed with a few of my other classmates. There was a mix of people going to play volleyball, football, baseball, and run cross country and track. I was still unsure about my status with track so my signing day was built more around me going to play football. All my coaches and family were there. 

...

It was now April. It was a struggle to finish high school. I knew it was the homestretch, but as soon as I got accepted into Elm, that's all I could think about. I took all my tough and required classes by Junior year. Junior year I had also taken all my core college credit classes: Psychology, Sociology, English Comp. So while I still took some college credit classes Senior year, they were more laid back classes. One of them was Intro to Aquatic Life where I had to write a short essay about maintaining an at home aquarium. 

I was also ready to move on from fellow high schoolers. There was nothing wrong with anybody, and I had a lot of friends, but I was just ready to be in the college environment. 

The one thing that kept me going was track. The goal of the whole season was obviously making it to state. But, I also wanted to get my 800 meter time as fast as possible going into college to impress the coach. 

...

While at study hall, I notice I have a new email notification. It's a message from the track coach asking if we can have a phone call at 3pm. I about jumped out of my seat. I replied and told him that would be perfect. 

It had been a long school day. As soon as I got home I took a nap. 

I woke up to a terrible stomachache. I raced to the bathroom and as I shut the door I could hear my mom in the kitchen laughing at me. As I did my business in the bathroom, I saw that I was getting a call. It was 3pm, I had completely forgot about the phone call with coach. I was too scared to not answer. So as I continued to sit on the toilet, I answered the call.

"How's it going Coach Porter?"

"Trevor! I'm glad we're getting to talk, it's been awhile! I wanted to say I've been following your progression this season and it's outstanding. Do you think finally doing indoor track in the winter helped?"

"Yes definitely. I wish I had done it since Freshman year, but our school isn't the most serious about track as I've told you."

"Well your numbers are showing that you're in great shape. I'm excited to have you on campus in the Fall!"

"Wait coach, this is going to sound silly, but am I officially on the team?"

I heard coach laugh before he answered. "Trevor of course. You've been considered a member of this team for awhile. We're excited to work with you."

I was smiling ear to ear. I was going to officially be a dual sport athlete in college. As I continued to talk to Porter, I noticed the shadow of my mom moving around outside.

"Are you talking to someone?" I heard her ask from behind the door.

"Just one minute mom!"

"What was that?" Porter asked. 

When I ended the call, and finally ended going to the bathroom, I told my mom the news. She gave me a big hug. 

...

Later in April, my mom and I were having a lazy Saturday watching movies. 

"Have you seen this yet?" My mom asked. 

I looked at her phone and saw the Elm 2026 page on Instagram. It had popped up on my suggested accounts feed before but I never got too deep into it. From what I saw, the posts were all about students in the class of 2026 and a little bit about who they were. Their bios would include their majors and what sport they were playing if any. When I last discovered the account in February, I was still unsure about what major I wanted to pursue and didn't know my exact situation with track. 

"I saw it in February. But I looked at it briefly."

"I really think you should make a post. You an reach out and make some new friends, find a potential roommate. Might even meet a cute girl." My mom added the last part with a smirk on her face. 

I'd be lying if I said finding a girlfriend wasn't one of the things I was most excited about when going to college. I was a little behind in the dating world. I'm not going to act like my girlfriends in elementary school to middle school were actually girlfriends. In elementary I'd ask a girl if she wanted to be my girlfriend, and then we'd hold hands at the playground and that'd be that. I didn't actually go on a date until 8th grade, but even then that consisted of my mom dropping me and her off at the movies and then picking us back up. And even then, that "relationship" was nothing more than a month or two. I didn't even have my first kiss until Junior year with the girl I was seeing at the time. Her and I decided to split off our relationship last summer. But then we decided to actually date this previous fall before splitting apart in April. It wasn't right and I just wasn't ready for a relationship.