Hi, I am Tatym Levine. I am a 7th grade reporter in Santa Barbara Middle School Teen Press.

I want to be a part of Teen Press because I want to hear stories. Everyone has a story, no matter if it is a small story, or a big story. Everyone can use their stories to inspire, create, and change other people’s lives. I also just wanted to have new experiences and experience a once in a lifetime opportunity.

If I could visit with anyone, I would visit with Killian Jornet. I would visit with Killian because he does some pretty amazing stuff. For example, he ran up Mount Mckinley with only a bottle of water and one energy gel. His newest goal is to run up Mount Everest in a weekend. He is also a really big inspiration, because he proves that with talent, you can achieve anything. I would talk about trail running, goal setting and achieving, and just being in the mountains.

One of my heros is Kayla Montgomery. She suffers from Multiple Sclerosis, but that doesn’t stop her from her running. Most people with that disease would just give up and not do anything in life. But Kayla doesn’t. She is always setting new records, and competing in huge competitions. At the end of her races, her legs are completely numb, so she can’t feel them. She gets help, and recovers. Then she goes off and runs another race. I think this is great, because she doesn’t just sit around wasting life, like many people do.

Kayla's story speaks to me. She got injured while playing soccer, which caused her Multiple Sclerosis. Before she got injured, she was one of the slowest runners on her soccer team. Once she recovered from her injury, she actually stopped playing soccer and took up running. She got faster and faster, until she was breaking world records and winning huge races. This is a great story because Kayla didn’t use her injury to get slower and stop altogether. She used it to get faster and find her passion.

A quote that speaks to me is “If there is no struggle, there is no process.” This is by Frederick Douglass.