Happy Thanksgiving BCRR!!
Last year around this time the board had created the BCRR Great Strides Scholarship. The scholarship is made available to all student athletes in the public schools in Bucks County. There are two scholarships awarded both male and female track or cross country athletes that have been involved in their respective sports for at least 3 years and are able to express in writing from both themselves and important adults in their lives how running has enabled them to take great strides by overcoming obstacles and/or achieving great success.
Last year, at the Winter Series banquet, we awarded scholarships to two students, both of whom were from the Council Rock school district.
One of those students who were awarded the Great Strides scholarship was Brendan Farrell. The following is an excerpt of Brendan’s essay about running’s importance in his life, and that even when he couldn’t run being a part of the team was important to him:
“Personally, running helps me to relax and relieve stress. Whenever I’m angry or upset about something, I would go on a run and it would help me clear my mind. In my Junior year of high school, I suffered a knee injury while playing basketball with my friends. This required me to have surgery on my ACL. Because of this I was not able to compete in Cross Country and Winter Track that year. I was very disappointed and frustrated, but it didn’t hold me back from supporting my team. I continued to go to practice and the meets to help with timing, as well as cheer for my teammates. Recovery was long and required a great deal of physical therapy. Fortunately I healed well and was able to get back into running for Spring Track. I recently finished my Cross Country Track season for my Senior year and was pleased with my progress. I am looking forward to running in Winter and Spring track.”
I recently heard from Brendan. He is a freshman at West Chester University where he is studying psychology and education. In his email to me he said,
“I would like to thank the Bucks County Road Runners for granting me this scholarship. My major is in psychology and my plan is to work with children in either Special Education or as a School Psychologist. I am interested in a career where I am able to help people overcome obstacles. My older brother has Autism and an Intellectual Disability; I see the struggles he goes through and I am interested in making a difference in helping the future for people’s need. This scholarship program has helped my family and I towards paying for college so I can achieve amazing things in the future. I realize this was not only a monetary gift, but a gift of your time and effort put into running this scholarship program. I will continue to run at West Chester because it gets me motivated to keep pushing myself towards my school work. Thank you again for your generosity and Happy Thanksgiving!!“
The teacher in me swells with pride knowing that we’re helping the next generation of runners get to the starting line of their lives. Applications for this year’s scholarship are due tomorrow evening, and I can’t wait to hear from this year’s applicants about how they are thankful for running.
Happy Thanksgiving Road Runners!!
