The document summarizes Honori Yamada's experience running cross country in high school and how it impacted her learning. She chose to discuss cross country because it taught her important life lessons beyond running techniques, like using emotion and reason. Running helped her develop determination and learn how to regulate her emotions to improve her performance. She realized running was a mental sport and applied concepts from her senior seminar class like inductive reasoning to push through challenges. By her senior year, Yamada believes running cultivated concentration that carried over to her academics, like improving SAT scores, and changed how she approaches learning going forward.

1. Honori Yamada
Senior Seminar 4
November 24, 2011
Video Presentation Script
1. What are the ways of knowing?
During the senior seminar class, we learned the ways of knowing which consists of:
perception, reason, emotion, and language. We learned benefits of using these
concepts but also the limits to using them in our everyday lives.
2. Why did you choose the examples that you chose?
I chose cross country as one of my examples during my high school experiences
because I was able to learn many aspects of life during the season. I was not only able
to learn techniques and strategy concepts to running, but also many other concepts
that I would have never been able to learn through my school academics. For
example, some of the concepts I learned were associated with what I learned from
the ways of knowing, especially emotion and reason. I feel that this season was a
great impact that helped me realize many important concepts that further allowed
growth in me.
3. What does the example say about you personally or as a student?
I did not realize that I actually enjoyed running until two years ago. This varsity team
was actually my first time I tried out for cross country where I was able to realize the
great interest I have in the sport. I found it really strange that I had the desire to
continue running races in the everyday hot heat. Although I knew that cross country
is never a „fun‟ sport, I realized that I have always had this strange sense of desire
that I never wanted to give up or quit. Personally, I somehow also believe that that
„desire‟ or motivation initially fostered from the concept I grasped while I was on the
team. Cross country made me realize one of the significant concepts in life where I
now essentially apply to my academics; this is determination. After joining the team,
I realized that this experience during my high school years really helped me mature
in the sense of increased concentration and determination.
4. In reflecting on the example, what impact does what you have studied
in class have on your learning experiences?
One of the biggest concepts that I can apply to my cross country experience is
emotion. Since cross country is a mental sport, I was able to develop a strong sense
of determination and concentration. During practices, several things I realized in
relation to emotion was how my emotional state can really influence my
performance. For example, I remember the second day of tryouts. I was told that the
tryout for day 2 was running approximately 3k. I was very nervous and I had no hope
in even finishing 3k since I thought that I was not physically prepared. Due to the

2. Honori Yamada
Senior Seminar 4
November 24, 2011
fact that I was overly nervous and my heartbeat was racing even before the tryout, I
remember finishing the 3k course with not a good time, exhausted.
However, after a couple weeks later, I approached to the day of another race. Except,
it was our first 5k race this time.Already from the start of the season, I learned
something very important. Before the race, I looked back to the last 3k time trial I
did and reminded myself: “it was my first time running since summer and I was
overly nervous. My nervousness really did bring my heart rate up which thus caused
me to become much more tired easily.” This is when I realized that I needed to keep
calm and that running a 5k is simple compared to the many LSD 10k runs I have
continuously been running and have been prepared for. As a result after reminding
myself that I would do fine on the race, I actually ended up getting a PB. On top of
that, I remember myself not overly exhausted in a good shape. This thus made me
realize how greatly the way I think or interpret can affect the way I feel, and how that
emotion can greatly impact my own performances. I also realized how by relaxing
myself and forcing myself to believe that running a 5k is easy after running almost
10k everyday, could positively affect my performance. In fact, during the races,
whenever I try to keep in mind that “running a 5k is easy and I‟ll be done in no time”,
I ended up finishing the race faster than I imagined without getting super tired.
Another concept that I was able to apply during my cross country season was reason.
I often used inductive reasoning in order to remind myself that I could finish a race
and try to improve my time. For example, right before I feel that I am getting
nervous, I think through myself and remind myself of all the practices and races I
have completed before. Especially when my negative and undetermined emotions get
in the way right before a race, I try to remind myself of how many times I have ran
the same course and how many times I have improve, thus I can improve my time
this time as well. Through inductive reasoning, I was able to mentally become
stronger and confident which further resulted an improved time.
5. What do you know about yourself as a student what will change how
you approach learning in the future?
After joining the cross country team, I believe that I was able to see a huge
improvement or growth within me. I believe that cross country is not only a mental
sport, but also a sport where proactivity in a key. After joining the team, I was both
able to increase my physical stamina as well as my concentration where I applied and
will continue applying to my academics. For example, after developing and realizing
the importance of determination and concentration, I was able to apply the same
ideas, the same way I think during the races, when I often took the SATs. Knowing
that SAT tests are very long, I was able to develop the greatness of keeping my
concentration and the concept of never giving up. As a result, I can extremely see a

3. Honori Yamada
Senior Seminar 4
November 24, 2011
difference in my SAT scores from my June test and my October and November tests.
I strongly believe that I was able to develop a strong sense of determination and
concentration from joining the team and how I was able to clearly see improvement
in my own academics.