Shelby Manning (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
shelbycobra) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
muserevival2016-01-12 12:04 am
shelbycobra) wrote in muserevival2016-01-12 12:04 am
Entry tags:
113.2.1 - quote
"One often learns more from ten days of agony than from ten years of contentment."
I remember so little from college. Actually, that's not true. I remember bits and pieces, maybe a free day here or there in the massive blur that was balancing full-time studenthood with a full on start to my professional racing career.
To be fair, the situation was the one I'd chosen for myself. Others around me had gone directly into racing in IRL and Champ Car, while it had always been my plan to continue my education. I wanted that Engineering background to be a more informed racer and I also wanted that college degree that neither of my parents had. And I still had to keep moving my career forward at the same time. I knew that going to school would put me in a hellacious crunch, and I did it anyway.
So my college experience was four years of constant pressure. I earned an academic scholarship to Georgia Tech and packed my bags to move from Florida to the college dorm; aside from holidays and the occasional break in classes, I wouldn't see home for another seven years. The week after I got my scholarship letter, I signed a contract with Champion Racing to run in the American Le Mans Series. God bless them for understanding I was committed to college, because I had the schedule from hell more often than not.
If I wasn't in class or completing homework, then I was either in the campus gym or most likely driving myself to the next racetrack. There are so many days that involved me coming back late from a race and then four hours later having to get up for class, or having to leave right after a class to make it to the track on time. But I'm pleased to say that I never missed a race or a due date. Actually, I wound up graduating second in my class.
Instead, I missed just about everything else that people do in college. I didn't date; there was no time to find a boyfriend. I never went to parties, since if I had downtime somehow then it was most likely spent catching up on sleep so that I didn't get sick or exhausted. There were only a few people that I was close to, because that's what happens when you're always in and out. Nobody gets to know you.
Amusingly it was the guys from the football team that I made friends with. I still don't really get the sport, but I was always crossing paths with them in the gym and would ask some of them to spot for me now and again. I actually wound up talking with the coach a lot of times. I can't recall actually going to many games, but they were good guys.
So, too, were my roommate and her boyfriend, who moved in with us sometime during our sophomore year. Lisa was always super understanding about me going in and out of the apartment at odd hours and Chris was pre-med, so he took it upon himself to make sure I was sleeping or eating or hydrated. Sometimes that was just throwing me a Nutri-Grain bar on my way out or waking me up when I had passed out on my textbook again, but I appreciated having roommates who gave a damn.
I can't say that I would necessarily do anything differently if I had those four years back. I know that the choices I made helped my career, which was the entire point. That Engineering degree has definitely come in handy, changing the way I look at the inside of a race car. And if I hadn't taken that drive in ALMS, I wouldn't have been part of multiple winning seasons and definitely wouldn't have gotten the job driving for Aston Martin after graduation.
But at the same time, now that I'm older I regret not having the college experience that everyone else had. I missed the dating, the parties, most of the events, the general just being there. Sure, people knew of me, but they didn't really know me and I didn't really know many of them. I would have liked to have been able to enjoy that part of my life.
Because saying I enjoyed college would be the wrong word. I survived college. College was four years of constant grinding, juggling two full-time situations and their myriad of demands, while just hoping I got enough downtime to take care of myself, let alone actually do anything other than study or drive. Even now as an IndyCar driver I have more free time than I did in college.
Yet it was college that took me from karting to professional racing, and I've never looked back since. So it's like I told myself back then, it was actually all worth it.
--
Shelby Manning Martin
Need for Speed OC
803 words
I remember so little from college. Actually, that's not true. I remember bits and pieces, maybe a free day here or there in the massive blur that was balancing full-time studenthood with a full on start to my professional racing career.
To be fair, the situation was the one I'd chosen for myself. Others around me had gone directly into racing in IRL and Champ Car, while it had always been my plan to continue my education. I wanted that Engineering background to be a more informed racer and I also wanted that college degree that neither of my parents had. And I still had to keep moving my career forward at the same time. I knew that going to school would put me in a hellacious crunch, and I did it anyway.
So my college experience was four years of constant pressure. I earned an academic scholarship to Georgia Tech and packed my bags to move from Florida to the college dorm; aside from holidays and the occasional break in classes, I wouldn't see home for another seven years. The week after I got my scholarship letter, I signed a contract with Champion Racing to run in the American Le Mans Series. God bless them for understanding I was committed to college, because I had the schedule from hell more often than not.
If I wasn't in class or completing homework, then I was either in the campus gym or most likely driving myself to the next racetrack. There are so many days that involved me coming back late from a race and then four hours later having to get up for class, or having to leave right after a class to make it to the track on time. But I'm pleased to say that I never missed a race or a due date. Actually, I wound up graduating second in my class.
Instead, I missed just about everything else that people do in college. I didn't date; there was no time to find a boyfriend. I never went to parties, since if I had downtime somehow then it was most likely spent catching up on sleep so that I didn't get sick or exhausted. There were only a few people that I was close to, because that's what happens when you're always in and out. Nobody gets to know you.
Amusingly it was the guys from the football team that I made friends with. I still don't really get the sport, but I was always crossing paths with them in the gym and would ask some of them to spot for me now and again. I actually wound up talking with the coach a lot of times. I can't recall actually going to many games, but they were good guys.
So, too, were my roommate and her boyfriend, who moved in with us sometime during our sophomore year. Lisa was always super understanding about me going in and out of the apartment at odd hours and Chris was pre-med, so he took it upon himself to make sure I was sleeping or eating or hydrated. Sometimes that was just throwing me a Nutri-Grain bar on my way out or waking me up when I had passed out on my textbook again, but I appreciated having roommates who gave a damn.
I can't say that I would necessarily do anything differently if I had those four years back. I know that the choices I made helped my career, which was the entire point. That Engineering degree has definitely come in handy, changing the way I look at the inside of a race car. And if I hadn't taken that drive in ALMS, I wouldn't have been part of multiple winning seasons and definitely wouldn't have gotten the job driving for Aston Martin after graduation.
But at the same time, now that I'm older I regret not having the college experience that everyone else had. I missed the dating, the parties, most of the events, the general just being there. Sure, people knew of me, but they didn't really know me and I didn't really know many of them. I would have liked to have been able to enjoy that part of my life.
Because saying I enjoyed college would be the wrong word. I survived college. College was four years of constant grinding, juggling two full-time situations and their myriad of demands, while just hoping I got enough downtime to take care of myself, let alone actually do anything other than study or drive. Even now as an IndyCar driver I have more free time than I did in college.
Yet it was college that took me from karting to professional racing, and I've never looked back since. So it's like I told myself back then, it was actually all worth it.
--
Shelby Manning Martin
Need for Speed OC
803 words