While most varsity athletes spend the offseason preparing for the next year, things are a bit different for senior Tyler Mejosnik. Mejosnik was a member of the cross-country team for each of his four years at Whitman, and doesn’t really know what to do with himself now that it’s over.

While most of his teammates have been going through running workouts to prepare for the fall, Mejosnik has been trying his unathletic hands at more traditional sports.

“I’m not very good at hitting baseballs, shooting basketball or throwing a goddamn Frisbee, but I am in pretty good shape,” Mejosnik confessed.

The decision to try traditional sports requiring coordination and fundamental fine tuning Mejosnik severely lacks came from a revelation he had while running along Mill Creek.

“Most athletes spend their time running to get in shape for their sports, but what have I been running for?” Mejosnik asked himself.

Mejosnik has been trying out sports to figure out if he has been subconsciously preparing himself for one of them for the past four years.

“I always assumed that our coach had some greater plan for us. I didn’t question him when he punished us by making us stop running, but now I’m worried it was all a farce. There has to be more to what we have been doing than just getting really good at running,” he asserted.

Mejosnik, who is looking into medical school as part of his post-graduation plans, has become more and more uncertain about the applicability of all of his skills honed at Whitman since his revelation.

“I’ve always thought I was studying to one day get a job to apply the skills I learned. With four years of medical school and then residency ahead of me, it is starting to feel like I have been studying to just get good at studying. I can’t be a student my whole life, can I? How is Encounters going to help me when I graduate? The class, not the website. I have to apply these skills somehow,” said Mejosnik.

Presently, Mejosnik is frantically try to find an application for his cardiovascular endurance, but has not found it yet. Sports are difficult, Mejosnik has found, and getting in shape is only half of the battle.

“So far I have been pretty unsuccessful, but I remain optimistic. If nothing else, it could make me a better runner. I mean, if running makes you better at playing basketball, playing basketball has to make you a better runner, right?”