Elliot Mark is sophomore here at Saint Joe High. He participates in cross country, track and the plays and musicals. Even doing just one of these is difficult enough, with multiple practices each week, commitment, hard work, and dedication. Being able to juggle both of these activities and continue to be an honors level student at school is very impressive. Most students can barely handle one extra curricular so Mark’s ability to be a double threat is simply spectacular. 

Mark started acting and performing at a young age with his cousins on christmas. His family would write stories and they would bring them to life by putting on a show. Ever since then Mark fell in love with performing and has continued ever since then. When asked why he started running he said, “I needed a spring sport and I [am not good] at baseball.” Although running has become a huge part of Mark’s high school career. He finds it freeing to just go and run for miles. 

The most rewarding part of running for Elliot Mark is the fact that “you have to put a great deal of effort into their events just to improve the slightest bit.” So when those seconds start shaving off the event times then he can see that all that work and dedication is paying off. When it comes to acting the most rewarding part is putting on a show for others to not only observe but enjoy watching. Everyone grows up watching media such as movies, tv shows, and music videos, so Elliot likes to be that source of entertainment and joy for other people. 

Mark’s thoughts on joining the track team and participating are that everyone should “do both of them and quit whatever sport you are currently doing.” According to Mark “Musical theater is the best thing on earth right up there with chocolate milk, and track is a close third.” Since everyone knows how much Elliot Mark loves chocolate milk, it is obvious how important and amazing these activities are to him. He appreciates the “nurturing communities” of these hobbies. He believes that these hobbies are very good for a person because he says, “In running you will get a good sense of dedication and purpose, and in acting you will get a good sense of who you are as a person therefore they are both complementary to life.” Mark finds balance for his life in these activities and loves to push himself to keep getting better and better at them. 

Through both track and theater Mark has learned one lesson. He says that “you are never as good as you think, ego is a waste of your time.” In other words, people need to be humble. They should not go walking around thinking that they are the greatest gift on the earth. Every person that believes that they are perfect and the best they can be is “wasting” their time because they could and should be spending time on improving because no one is perfect. Mark especially knows this which is shown through his dedication to improving on his running times and his acting abilities.