I wasn’t always confident. I used to be closed in. My previous school sort of beat all my open nature out of me. I developed a shell I hid in and was constantly worried about what other people thought of me. I didn’t let any of them know I cared, though. I also was very quiet around people. I still am some of the time, but way less than I previously was. I sometimes went a whole day at school without saying anything. At home, I left my shell and I acted normal to my parents.

I always liked racing games. They always gave me a sense of calmness and peace when my life was chaotic. It’s rather ironic since racing is very hectic and tense. My favorites were the Flatout, Gran Turismo, and Need For Speed franchises. The racing was so fun, but all I knew of professional racing in real life was NASCAR and Indy 500. Those never interested me because they were just racing in a circle. I wanted more complexity in races if I was to want to professionally race.

I never really pursued the dream to become a professional driver for a racing team. My previous school kept me from getting motivated as they were constantly pushing all the students to prepare for college. All I wanted was to get a job working somewhere. I didn’t care where. The beginning of my junior year, I found the game DiRT Rally.

I started playing the game and fell in love with the high speed, narrow roads, and dirt tracks. That small spark erupted a flame of interest in Rally. I began reading about other games featuring rally, still not knowing it was an actual sport. When I searched for a specific car from the game, I found out that Rally was a very real thing. From that point, I started looking for everything relating to Rally.

Before I knew it, I wasn’t keeping myself from having a conversation with someone I wanted to talk with and was being more confident in general about myself. I started to be more talkative when I first looked into Rally. I was really interested in being a driver for a Rally team that I just didn’t really care about what anyone thought anymore. I also was getting out of my shell more, talking, laughing, and having fun with my classmates for the first time since I came to Washington.  I got along with more people and didn’t have any more bullies, especially since I moved schools to Kettle Falls.

I bought my first car the spring of my junior year. It was a 2000 Subaru Impreza 2.5 RS. I bought it partially because a Rally driver drove a Subaru Impreza in the 90s. Already, my passion for rallying was influencing me in some places. Before summer vacation, I competed in a Rallycross with my Impreza.

The experience was amazing. The inertia pulling you against the seat as you tear off to the first turn. The pull of the G-forces when you perform a high speed turn and subsequent drift around a sharp corner. Sliding through loose mud and dirt as you pull the E-Brake and whip your rear wheels out from behind you. All the adrenaline pumping through you throughout the whole thing. It isn’t something that can be felt doing anything else.

During the summer, my Impreza broke down. Once it did, I began taking the engine apart to fix the problem. I knew where the problem was with the help of the internet and set off fixing it. I found a certain joy in fixing my car. When the car was fixed, it ran like it never was broken.

The joy from fixing my Impreza and the excitement of driving in a Rallycross, which is more tame than an actual Rally, motivated me to do more. I started searching for Rally driving schools. I even started searching for schools to learn how to be a mechanic, both regular and a race car mechanic. I also got a recommendation by one of the teachers about a Technical School called WyoTech. Since then, I began making plans for what I was going to do after I graduate high school.

Rather than just settling for any old job, I can definitely see myself racing for a professional team in the future. High school students don’t really know what all is out there. Don’t just settle for a job that pays because you’re too unmotivated to figure it out. Push yourselves to find a passion and stick with it. Let your passion drive you to the career that uses it to the fullest and don’t settle for anything less.