Swiftly Forward

guest blog post by Lexi Zidel, BASIS Senior and Swift Intern

For me whenever I want to do what I love, running, I simply put on a pair of shoes, throw in some earbuds, and march out the front door with little thought. It seems so easy to just get out and run and escape the seriousness of day-to-day life.

I never put much thought into how simple it is for me to run and I never appreciated it, until I broadened my perspective with Swift Youth Foundation. Many kids do not have a pair of running shoes and can not simply drop everything to destress with a peaceful run. To go outside, which I usually do with little thought, there are things that need to be done and obstacles that need to be overcome.

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If we consider the series of events that occur to go running “the run of life” I can simply start right away and I’d have an unfair advantage against a kid who has challenges to face before they even get to the start line. This inequality among starting positions became apparent to me during my time working at Swift and I wanted to spread this awareness and spread how at Swift everyone starts from the same starting line with equal opportunity and possibility if you just put in the effort.

​I created a one mile  fun run/walk at my school to symbolize this inequality. I also intentionally pointed out that like Swift, at this run we are all starting from the same start line and nobody has more obstacles to overcome.

My event attracted freshman to seniors to parents, but did compete with prom later in the day. Creating, running (pun intended), and scheduling an event (even with the help of Swift and my school) proved to be very difficult. At times it was very discouraging. Originally it seemed like nobody would show up, so I questioned why I was putting in so much time and energy. 

However at the end of the day, even with a relatively small crowd I would consider the event a success. I was wrong in initially measuring success by the amount of people. I learned success is not the number of people that come, but the number of people that are impacted and moved by what I was trying to convey and were left wanting to get involved with Swift Youth Foundation. 

After all, I would rather have four quarters than one hundred pennies, meaning more is not always better.

This event marked my end to my senior project at Swift Youth Foundation and I am incredibly sad to see it ending. I can honestly say that working with Swift has changed me for the better, and if anyone wants to know what I mean, I strongly encourage you to get involved and see for yourself. Quickly, I’d like to thank everyone on the Swift staff and board for making me feel so welcome and apart of the organization since day 1. Particularly my site advisor, Pamelle (Go Devils!!) Thank you.

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To read more about Lexi's Senior Project, check out her Swiftly Forward blog. We wish Lexi, and all of our graduating seniors, the best of luck! Congratulations from Swift Youth Foundation!