Dear family, friends, and friends I haven't met yet:
As you can tell from the photo above... my dream of doing something special on the track goes back a very long time. That photo is a picture of a bellwork assignment from my 6th grade language arts class. Since then, I may have given up on becoming the fastest man alive (yes, reality did sink in... eventually). However, I still have the dream of doing something extremely special. And today, I believe that I can. My name is David Voland, and I am pleased to announce that I am currently training for the 2016 Olympic trials in the 400 meter hurdles. Still, while I have been blessed with a combination of support, guidance, dedication, and talent to make the Olympic trials a very legitimate goal of mine, I am still in need of some help.
Please know that I am not normally one to boast upon my accomplishments; however, I would like to convince you of something very important: when I have a big goal in life... I work as hard as I possibly can to get it done. As an Augustana College track athlete, I have been blessed with many school records, numerous conference championships, a national championship, and more. I’ve also been recognized as an 11-time All American, a 3-time Academic All American, and an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship recipient. These accomplishments also paved the way for recognition as “athlete of the meet” at my conference competition, my conference’s “man of the year” for all ten sports, and “track athlete of the year” for the entire Midwest region of the United States. Academically, I qualified for Augustana’s most prestigious academic scholarship, earned a place on the Dean’s List nine out of nine times, and have been inducted into two competitive honor societies with a GPA of 3.835/4.000.
Of course, these accomplishments wouldn’t have been possible without a few key individuals and amazing opportunities. First, I thank my friends and family for cultivating my dream at a very young age. As a child, I still remember racing my father and hearing his encouraging words every step of the way. By the end of grade school, although he could no longer beat me on foot, he continued to race from his car. I will never forget his screams of astonishment and delight coming through the car window as I ran down the sidewalk with every bit of heart and energy that my little legs could handle. Next, I thank my head track coach, Paul Olsen, and the rest of my coaches and teammates for helping me continue to love track and field (and life in general!) so much. Because of Augie track, I learned to look at every race, practice, and workout through a positive lens, and began to see opportunity from every possible angle. In short, I learned how to live our team philosophy, “a celebration of life.” Hugging my teammates, shaking my competitors’ hands, and congratulating everyone I came across became ways to share these contagious philosophies with others. I am now left with a positive, joyful, and loving attitude that helps me sincerely believe myself when I say, “I did; therefore, I can.”
Next year, I look forward to sharing my enthusiasm with young people as a full-time teacher and coach. For now, however, I am devoting my time to building strength, improving hurdle technique, preventing injuries, and running as much as possible. My goal of dropping just 0.4 seconds to reach a very elite 50.4 seconds is looking better and better every day. In fact, with the way things are looking now, I believe I will be able to run well under 50.0 seconds — comfortably. Still, reaching my full potential won’t be possible without running against ample high-quality competition. This means I will need to frequently travel around the country in order to run in extremely competitive meets. Only there will I have the best chances of hitting my goal time and earning my way into the Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon this July. Unfortunately, my earnings from substitute teaching, coaching, and tutoring will not be enough for me to keep up the healthy, challenging, and competitive lifestyle that will be required for the next six months.
Please consider helping me in any way that you can. I understand that I am fortunate enough to be quite privelaged in this world, and I know that I am not necessarily someone who is "in need". If you feel that your help would do more good somehwere else... I completely understand! Trust me. In fact, those reasons are precisely why I had many reservations about creating this fundraiser. Not to mention... your donation doesn't guarantee anything! I could still fail to qualify. But if you have a few extra dollars... and you feel like you can contribute to my life-long dream, I would be beyond thankful. I just don't know if this will be possible without you! Regardless... just know that I'm giving every shred of effort that I have. If this doesn't work out... I can at least say that I devoted an entire calendar year to work as hard as I possibly could. I will NOT fail due to a lack of effort. You have my word!
My expenses for hotels, flights, rental cars, food, and more will certainly be higher than the goal I have created for this fundraiser; however, I am confident that I will be able to come up with everything else that I need by teaching, coaching, and tutoring. Thank you so much for your generosty! And please... don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions at all!
Who knows... if this year goes well, this could be the start of a brand new journey.
Best wishes,
-David Voland
As you can tell from the photo above... my dream of doing something special on the track goes back a very long time. That photo is a picture of a bellwork assignment from my 6th grade language arts class. Since then, I may have given up on becoming the fastest man alive (yes, reality did sink in... eventually). However, I still have the dream of doing something extremely special. And today, I believe that I can. My name is David Voland, and I am pleased to announce that I am currently training for the 2016 Olympic trials in the 400 meter hurdles. Still, while I have been blessed with a combination of support, guidance, dedication, and talent to make the Olympic trials a very legitimate goal of mine, I am still in need of some help.
Please know that I am not normally one to boast upon my accomplishments; however, I would like to convince you of something very important: when I have a big goal in life... I work as hard as I possibly can to get it done. As an Augustana College track athlete, I have been blessed with many school records, numerous conference championships, a national championship, and more. I’ve also been recognized as an 11-time All American, a 3-time Academic All American, and an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship recipient. These accomplishments also paved the way for recognition as “athlete of the meet” at my conference competition, my conference’s “man of the year” for all ten sports, and “track athlete of the year” for the entire Midwest region of the United States. Academically, I qualified for Augustana’s most prestigious academic scholarship, earned a place on the Dean’s List nine out of nine times, and have been inducted into two competitive honor societies with a GPA of 3.835/4.000.
Of course, these accomplishments wouldn’t have been possible without a few key individuals and amazing opportunities. First, I thank my friends and family for cultivating my dream at a very young age. As a child, I still remember racing my father and hearing his encouraging words every step of the way. By the end of grade school, although he could no longer beat me on foot, he continued to race from his car. I will never forget his screams of astonishment and delight coming through the car window as I ran down the sidewalk with every bit of heart and energy that my little legs could handle. Next, I thank my head track coach, Paul Olsen, and the rest of my coaches and teammates for helping me continue to love track and field (and life in general!) so much. Because of Augie track, I learned to look at every race, practice, and workout through a positive lens, and began to see opportunity from every possible angle. In short, I learned how to live our team philosophy, “a celebration of life.” Hugging my teammates, shaking my competitors’ hands, and congratulating everyone I came across became ways to share these contagious philosophies with others. I am now left with a positive, joyful, and loving attitude that helps me sincerely believe myself when I say, “I did; therefore, I can.”
Next year, I look forward to sharing my enthusiasm with young people as a full-time teacher and coach. For now, however, I am devoting my time to building strength, improving hurdle technique, preventing injuries, and running as much as possible. My goal of dropping just 0.4 seconds to reach a very elite 50.4 seconds is looking better and better every day. In fact, with the way things are looking now, I believe I will be able to run well under 50.0 seconds — comfortably. Still, reaching my full potential won’t be possible without running against ample high-quality competition. This means I will need to frequently travel around the country in order to run in extremely competitive meets. Only there will I have the best chances of hitting my goal time and earning my way into the Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon this July. Unfortunately, my earnings from substitute teaching, coaching, and tutoring will not be enough for me to keep up the healthy, challenging, and competitive lifestyle that will be required for the next six months.
Please consider helping me in any way that you can. I understand that I am fortunate enough to be quite privelaged in this world, and I know that I am not necessarily someone who is "in need". If you feel that your help would do more good somehwere else... I completely understand! Trust me. In fact, those reasons are precisely why I had many reservations about creating this fundraiser. Not to mention... your donation doesn't guarantee anything! I could still fail to qualify. But if you have a few extra dollars... and you feel like you can contribute to my life-long dream, I would be beyond thankful. I just don't know if this will be possible without you! Regardless... just know that I'm giving every shred of effort that I have. If this doesn't work out... I can at least say that I devoted an entire calendar year to work as hard as I possibly could. I will NOT fail due to a lack of effort. You have my word!
My expenses for hotels, flights, rental cars, food, and more will certainly be higher than the goal I have created for this fundraiser; however, I am confident that I will be able to come up with everything else that I need by teaching, coaching, and tutoring. Thank you so much for your generosty! And please... don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions at all!
Who knows... if this year goes well, this could be the start of a brand new journey.
Best wishes,
-David Voland