By JOSE HERRERA

Balancing sports, school work and extracurricular activities is a struggle but with a strong spirit and the right attitude junior Iridian Jimenez succeeds in all aspects.

Jimenez is on the  track and field team at Birmingham Community Charter High School where she competes in the distance event.  Being part of track means competition with people on the team, and other school teams.

“I like to run the distance event for track because I like the competition and the way competing makes me feel good,” Jimenez said.

Jimenez strives to improve her mile time and beat her personal record of 6:35 on the track and she knows that the only way to do that is to run every single day, eat healthy, drink plenty of water and to keep her body healthy.

“I try my hardest not to skip practice because if I miss I won’t improve and I want to improve,” Jimenez said.

As a student, Jimenez does her best to keep up with her school work so that her goal of becoming a faster runner is not hindered by the demands of school.

“I often do struggle with completing homework assignments and I don’t have enough time to study because it’s difficult to manage my time,” Jimenez said.  “Somehow, though, I manage it and I’m able to study for a test by preparing two days before, and keep up with my homework.”

After going to practice five times a week from 2:30-5:30 p.m. and being responsible with her school work she still takes the time to volunteer at Canoga Park Public Library on Saturdays.

“I love the long runs because it clears my head, and I focus on running instead of worrying about stressful things like tests,” Jimenez said.