Vaulting in the Big Leagues

As guest lecturer Melissa Pennell, head UMass Lowell’s English department, steps into the room to speak about her specialty:  Ralph Waldo Emerson and transcendentalism.  She asks for us to share either a great book we’ve read, the most daring thing you’ve ever done, or the most beautiful thing we’ve ever seen.  “How did it change your life forever?”  she asked.  I don’t have much to say about great books or a sap for beautiful things, I decided to write a bit about the most daring thing I’ve ever done: starting to pole vault.

After hearing the stories of “How to Kill a Mockingbird made me want to be an English major” or “I went to Europe by myself last summer” or “I went to Hawaii and it moved me to tears”, it was getting a little predictable.  Being someone who likes to blend in with the sea of students in a classroom, I try to force myself into raising my hand to speak at least once a class.  I decided to share my story.

“I started pole vaulting when I was a freshman in high school. I can be very shy at first.  I’m very cautious and timid in a lot of decisions I make.  I’m not a very daring person and hate roller coasters, but I knew I really wanted to try it.  Pole vaulting has just enough danger for me.  I’m also very impatient and a perfectionist.  It reminds me to have patience with an event with so much technique involved, to take my time just to get things right.   Even the professional vaulters go back to the baby steps to try and fix their problems.  I think those skills overlap into other aspects of life and problem solving, not just athletics.  I’ve done it for almost six years now.  It’s a passion of mine and I don’t see myself stopping anytime soon.”

Dr. Marshall, my real professor, had her jaw on the floor.  Dr. Pennell did also.  I started to blush a bit, feeling embarassed that I shared so much.  I felt vulnerable to their potential criticisms and that they weren’t saying anything at all, until finally.  “WOW!”

I was bombarded with “How high do you jump?” “How did you ever get in to that?”  “Are you on the track team?”  “Aren’t you afraid to let go of the pole like that? Wait–forget letting go, what about jumping so high?!”  I started to blush a little more knowing the concentration wasn’t on transcendentalism anymore.  It was a  lesson in pole vaulting.

After class, Dr. Marshall pulled me aside.  She asked even more about pole vaulting and how I even got started.  I just told her how I saw it and liked it.  There really wasn’t a wonderful story behind it.  “I feel like I know so much more about you now.  After almost an entire semester, I now have a real insight into the kind of person you are.”

I’m not really sure what sort of insight it reveals about me as a person, but I guess I had no idea how the “outside world” views us as pole vaulters.  Even though I’m not the greatest vaulter in the world, I have to say it still feels pretty awesome.