Prefect Perspective

Every day, my patience gets tested. Whether it’s people walking slowly in the hallway, anxiously waiting for a grade on a recent test to be posted, or when it’s 11:54 and we have to wait for the lunch bell to ring before we can leave class. Patience is something I have always struggled with. I like to walk a faster pace in the hallways, know immediately how I did on tests, and go for lunch as soon as I get hungry.

Throughout my five years at Albert, countless lessons have taught me patience. The lesson that sticks out in my memory, the one that really tested my patience, happened when I was competing in track and field.

I was in Grade 10 and made it to the Metro Track and Field Championship, where 24 qualified athletes in each event fight for the top four spots to qualify for OFSAA (Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations). To me, the stakes were high. At this specific meet, I was competing in the triple jump, and I felt I was not doing my best. I lost even more confidence knowing I was competing against a much taller athlete, who was also a national champion. All these factors made me feel my chances at a spot were low, and honestly, this was very frustrating, as it was the most important meet of the year.

Before my final jump, I was still in fifth place, and I knew I had to get a new personal best if I wanted to move on. So, I put everything into that jump, and somehow… I made it. I made it to fourth place. For one full minute, I was thrilled. I was mentally planning my trip to OFSAA, getting excused from the ASP exam, imagining my victory arc - all of it. And then, the lesson came.

The next athlete, who had been in sixth place, took her jump. It was an excellent jump. In that one jump, she landed herself into third place, and just like that, I was back in fifth. It was devastating, and in the moment, I had to learn to be patient with myself and trust that I could accomplish more in the future.

So, that day, I didn’t make OFSAA. But I did make it through the emotional rollercoaster of being bumped out of fourth place in under 60 seconds. To be honest, that was character-building.

Patience, in this experience, was what allowed me to still get a personal best and feel okay even when things didn't work out my way. I was patient with myself when I wanted to just be frustrated and blame the world for putting me up against stronger athletes. I didn’t get the result I wanted, but I learned that patience isn’t about everything going your way. It’s about staying steady when it doesn’t.  

I could have given up entirely, but I didn’t. I stayed patient with myself, trusted the work I put in and gave myself one more chance. Even though I got bumped back down, the patience I showed was in choosing to try again instead of letting frustration win. So maybe, walking behind slow walkers isn’t pointless; it’s practice for moments when patience counts.

- Rya, Grade 12 student and Athletics Prefect