There I was on a Monday afternoon, running on the treadmill and watching trashy reality TV

(not my choice but I didn’t necessarily object…). Now, sometimes I like to imagine that I look

like a track star when I run. And I’m not going to lie; I had one of those workouts that make

you feel great about yourself. (I even left my stats up on the screen afterwards as I left my

machine to get water, which, as those of you who frequent the gym know, is a completely

intentional statement).

 

So I’m stretching out in my spandex garb when a student equipped with Nikon and notepad

in hand caught my attention. “Are you Meg?” she asked, as she introduced herself as a

member of the Collegian, our campus newspaper. When I confirmed her allegation, she

asked if I could run a few laps around the track so she could get a series of action shots. “But

I’m all sweaty and gross now” was my reply, “I wish you had caught me before my run.” Why

I didn’t think to ask the reason for the photos in the first place, I’m not sure. It must have

been my inner-celebrity making its debut appearance.

 

When the student proceeded to ask about my involvement, I replied, “Well, I’m involved in a

lot of things on campus.” My track involvement, she specified, to which I told her that I

wasn’t on the track team, but took it upon myself to describe in full detail how I had taken to

running lately and what my daily workout routine looked like.

The response I got was disheartening. “Wait. You’re not the Meg that we interviewed as this

week’s featured University athlete?” It was true. In fact, I was not this Meg. So a few burned

calories and one slightly bruised ego later, here I am sharing this episode without even a

picture in the Collegian to show for it. I did, however, include what I can only hope such a

photo would look like.

 

My name is Meg and this narrative is merely a glimpse of what you might expect were I to be

selected to contribute to the 2009 Summer Internship Program. I look forward to the

opportunity to share any future personal embarrassment with your team.