By: Mohamed Moussa (YES 2024-2025, Tunisia, placed by AFS-USA in Arlington, VA)

On October 27, I participated in the Marine Corps 10k run in Washington, D.C. My host dad first brought up participating in the race when I was still in Tunisia. I had zero training in running, but I was still excited to participate. Months later, here I am having completed my first official run together with my host dad.

My host dad has been running for a long time, and training together allowed me to grow closer to him and participate in his interests. Since I arrived in the U.S., we have gone on multiple runs and walks to train for the race. This also gave us time to spend together, talk, and develop our relationship.

From this experience, I learned that hard work pays off. My first time running a 10k in training took me 1 hour and 40 minutes. On race day, I ran the 10k in only 1 hour and 8 minutes! I also learned about the value of perseverance and resilience. During the run, I wanted to walk or give up many times, but seeing 4000 other people running alongside me gave me the motivation to continue. I was so proud when I reached the finish line and am even considering continuing to run for fun in the future.

The training process was difficult, as was running the race itself. But finishing the run and receiving my medal made it worth it. Thank you to the YES program for this wonderful experience!