Stories And Inspiration

When Ashka Shah had to describe an obstacle she had overcome for the 2013-14 Early College at Guilford application, she knew what it would focus on: running with GO FAR.

“In my essay, I discussed that I had to push myself farther because running was not easy for me,” Shah said.

Shah said she joined GO FAR because her friends encouraged her to and she thought it would be a good way to meet new people and learn about teamwork. It was a fun way to try something new.

“GO FAR has taught me to push myself instead of easily giving up and has improved my teamwork skills,” said Shah, now a tenth grader at the Early College at Guilford. “It made me feel like I was a part of something.” She liked that feeling and stayed in the club from sixth through eighth grades, participating in five races.

Shah also became a mentor for a group of children in kindergarten through second grade at Johnson Street Global Studies, where she attended school for the 2013 spring GO FAR season.

“By mentoring the K-2 students, it made me build my leadership skills,” Shah said. “The little kids would look up to me, which made me improve myself knowing that I was like a role model to them.”

She enjoyed her mentoring role so much that she stuck with it in a different capacity. Graduating Johnson Street Global Studies meant having to leave the GO FAR mentoring there as well. Shah is now part of a couple of service-learning clubs where she mentors middle school students in math.

As a mentor, Shah feels the relationship is two-sided. “Both the mentor and the student learn things,” she said. “When I mentored the K-2 kids at Johnson Street, we taught them different character traits, such as responsibility, and applied it to their running. From the kids, the mentor indirectly learns how to become a better leader, listener, and helper.”

Her goal as a mentor is to continue to help others and to give back to the community as much as she can.

Being part of GO FAR helped Shah to not only overcome an obstacle, but also learn how to make the most of it.

See Shah, as well as other student mentors and coaches, talk about her mentoring experience in the GO FAR 5K Mentoring 10-Year Birthday Party video on our website at www.gofarclub.org.