Rowing

She thinks of life as spontaneous.

Spontaneous in good ways. And spontaneous in bad ways.

When she was 12 she made a bet with her mom; if she could train for and run a marathon at age 16, it could be in Hawaii.

And just like all the other long term bets she made with her parents, Lindsey was worried they would forget. So she made them sign contracts to guarantee that everything they said was set in stone.

But four years later, she was not focused on training for a marathon in Hawaii. She was focused on rowing.

After becoming the varsity field hockey goalie freshman year, Lindsey wanted to find a new sport to participate in during the off season. Her brother rowed, so she decided to give it a shot. Instantly, she fell in love with the sport.

She put everything into rowing. She practiced every day except Sundays, year-round. And eventually, it overtook field hockey and became her only sport. Not only that, but in Lindsey’s teammates words, she was good. Really good. And she felt good until that week.

After an entire year competing with her team, Lindsey’s coach, one week before regionals, spontaneously said she would not be a part of the boat that would eventually race at nationals due to a concussion she had.

“I was heartbroken.” Melby said.

But all it took to get over the feeling of not being able to compete with her team at nationals was a piece of paper. A contract to be exact.

And from there she remembered a bet she made with her mom three years prior. So, she started training. Instead of rowing, she put all her time into running, because nothing was going to stop her from participating in this marathon.

And three months later in April 2016, Lindsey Melby ran the Hawaiian Marathon in Kauai. Not only that, but she was the youngest competitor there. She said that it is her greatest accomplishment. All thanks to a couple of spontaneous decisions.

Travel

Inside the classroom, she starts to think of all the places life can take her.

She wants to graduate early and move to Thailand with her great aunt to teach English.

She used to live in England, so she wants to go back. She wants to move there for college. She hopes to attend Oxford, one of the highest rated universities in the world. Not only that, but she wants to be a collegiate rower as well.

She is unsure of what her future holds. Right now, she thinks she wants to be a lawyer. Nevertheless, she still has aspirations to be a doctor and teacher as well.

She knows she’ll come back to the United States It is where her family is. Her home is here.

But she is not sure where she will live, most likely not Kirkwood. She says she loves it here for now, but there is more out there she wants to explore.

Like her own family, she wants her children to experience moving around. To understand that the different people who live in different places are no different from us.

But, quickly, Lindsey is taken back into her reality at KHS. She thinks about her current life.

She wakes up at 6:10 a.m. First, bible study, then school. Something her parents have instilled within her since childhood. Next, her school day is filled with three AP classes and the rest honors.

She has AP World History and Mr. Stoner to thank for a lot of her new plans. She says it is the most inspirational class she has taken at Kirkwood.

After school it’s two hours of rowing, then homework, then repeat.

But Lindsey wouldn’t give any part of her day up, because it allows her to think of where her life can take her.

“I just want to keep moving,” Melby said.