Christina Sawyer — Family
Class of 2021 | Charger Cross Country and Track & Field | Tecumseh, MI
WORDS: Calli Townsend
Christina Sawyer didn't join her first official running team until she went to a public high school her sophomore year. Since then, she has gone on to earn All-State honors in highs school track, All-Conference honors in college cross country and track, and she's even competed in the NCAA Division II Cross Country National meet twice.
She's incredibly hard working and highly motivated, and she's inspired by her mom who, Christian says, sacrificed a lot to homeschool Christina and her younger sister.
"Growing up being homeschooled, I got to spend a lot of time with her," she said. "I really appreciate the fact that she chose to homeschool us. That was a big sacrifice for her, but we had some really awesome opportunities."
The Sawyers would travel to see other family members, go on field trips together, and take several different enrichment classes such as baking, horse riding, or origami, which she now considers one of her hidden talents.
"That taught me the importance of family and that's something I still cling to now in college when academics become pretty overwhelming," she said. "I know at the root of everything, I still have a family that cares about me even when I don't do so well."
Christina said her mom also taught her what it means to sacrifice. As a homeschooling mother, she didn't have much time to herself, but her love for her family trumped any selfish desires.
"She would get up before our dad got up for work. She'd make him breakfast and lunch and she'd stay up after we went to bed to clean and get everything ready for the next day," she said.
Her mom's example of sacrifice has helped Christina find a healthy perspective as a student-athlete. She has shifted her focus from an all-consuming desire for success to learning to worship God in all she does.
"I think for me, it's really easy to get caught up in success and doing well and achieving things," she said.
And for someone like Christina with outstanding grades and a successful running career, getting caught up in that success would certainly be easy to do. But she chooses a different perspective.
"When you get so caught up in those things, you don't really get to enjoy life at all and you get so focused on yourself," she said. "Giving things my all no matter what the result is helps me be content with whatever the outcome is because I know I did the best I could. Hopefully I could impact the lives of other people and worship God in the process."
Christina chooses to focus on honoring God, keeping family close, and loving and leading others as Jesus would.
"These moments, especially through athletics and having a couple of really bad seasons, have taught me that it's not all about success."