At 5:00 a.m. sun rises as the 11th grader, Salah Mohammed’s phone rings as he wakes up for his morning breakfast that consists of eggs and bacon. After Mohammed finishes his breakfast, he takes a quick shower and gets ready for a regular school day at Mclean High School. Salah attends all of his classes on time, but when his Personal Fitness 1 class is next, he will always be there earlier than the teacher.
As Mohammed’s junior year began, he had been in the gym non-stop. Mohammed wants to be in the best shape possible. There is one thing on Mohammed’s mind, to show people how wrong they could be about him. Mohammed is tired of people judging him based on his skinny arms and body, feeling that he is always looked over by his fellow classmates and even by his brothers.
“I have never felt that I was respected, just because of how small and fragile I was,” Mohammed said.
Mohammed was a top student in math and science but he was not the best in physical education classes. Mohammed was very slow at running and was always made fun of by his friends and also by strangers. Mohammed went into a deep depression, failed classes and did not want to come to school anymore, especially his PE class. This situation went on from middle school all the way to his freshman year.
“I was very self-conscious and was very embarrassed of showing my arms, so I always wore sweaters and long sleeved clothes, during the summer and winter,” Mohammed said.
Mohammed got tired of his situation, “I really had enough,” Mohammed said. Mohammed thought about going to the gym in his sophomore year. His parents moved from Herndon to McLean, iving him a chance to start over with a new look.
“As I was choosing my classes in the summer, I asked my parents about choosing Personal Fitness, and they were afraid of allowing me to take it, because they thought lifting weight makes you shorter,” Mohammed said.
Mohammed was the skinniest person in the gym room but the coach helped him out and encouraged him, assuring him he could be “buff” by the end of the year.
“Nothing is impossible in this weight room,” coach William West said.
Mohammed is now a totally different person. He can now walk around proudly, wear short-sleeved shirts and not be picked on. Mohammed’s plan for the future is to become a Personal Fitness teacher and help students like him to become strong. He will continue working out because that’s what he likes to do. Mohammed’s only fear is that he won’t have time to practice in the gym as he gets older and gradutes to college, but he says that there will always be time for things he loves and no matter what he will be in the gym.
“It is what I love. I am addicted to it,” Salah said.
Mohammed is now lifting more than twice of what his classmates are lifting. He changed his diet and became vegan, and started to balance out his school and workout sessions, studying for three hours a day and working out for about two on school days and four on weekends.
Most of Mohammed’s teachers are proud of his accomplishments, especially his physics teacher, Christopher Dobson, who sometimes goes out and works with Mohammed in the gym. Mohammed is really glad that some one appreciates his efforts and accomplishments like Dobson.
“Life is short; do what makes you happy,” Dobson said.