Senior Cristian Jaimes and sophomore Marlon Alanis juggle cross country and band. 

What have you learned as a student?

Jaimes: It has taught me to be more independent in a sense where you can’t really rely on someone else when it comes anything — like grades or just business overall. You kind of have to teach yourself how to do things when it comes down to it.

Alanis: It has really taught me about time management.

Between cross country, band and academics, how do you manage everything? Does it take a toll on what you prioritize your time with?

Jaimes:  I’d have to say it does. It is very, very extremely stressful. But it’s all apart of life and how you manage it. No matter what, stress will always be there; it’s just how you handle your stress. You essentially just have to split it up, it’s still going to be there.

Marlin: I usually just go home, eat, shower, do my homework and then just knock it out. And sometimes not get too many hours of sleep.

Tell me about a time you were overwhelmed with work and had to balance band and cross country.

Cristian: That was probably homecoming week since we had a competition the next day, and I only had three hours of sleep. I didn’t see it as three hours of sleep, but three hours to get my work done that I needed to do. Even then, I had a team that was relying on me, and I had to perform 105 percent in a sense.

Marlin: Yesterday, actually. I had an AP stat test. We had a new piece of music that I really had to memorize, and I had a run to get in before school. So, I came in early before school, I ran and then I went to tutorials to get help to prepare for the test and practiced my instrument during Ranger Time.

For you, what do you think is more complicated/competitive?

Cristian: I would say band. In band, people are quite intense. There’s no miracles in band. You’re either good or you’re bad. No one cares if you’re bad, there’s one chair and there’s 100 people trying out for that chair; and it takes one mistake to just ruin it all. In cross country, you might be able to make a few mistakes at the beginning of a race but you can always come back. In band, one mistake can cost you the final result.

Marlin: I think band is more complicated and competitive. Cross country is hard, but in band, you have to put a lot more practice hours in and compete with a larger variety.

What drives you? How do you hope to shape your school career?

Cristian: I’d like to make the world a better place, essentially. I believe we’re just passing a baton, so if I don’t improve the status quo, I’m basically wasting my time.

Marlin: So last year, I didn’t do too well with grades at all. I am really motivated this year to get better grades, so I can get two off periods senior year.

Why band and cross country?

Cristian: Band, I don’t know, I guess because I was pretty good at it. I also love music. I’ve always wanted to learn music because it’s more you know, the more you feel. Cross country, I just really like that no matter what, you can’t cheat practice in cross country. You can’t cheat it. You can say ‘I ran 20 miles or 30 miles’ but when it comes to the races we’ll see what the miles can do.

Marlin: I’ve been in band since sixth grade, and I really liked it, and I liked marching band because you got to travel and compete with a lot of people. You get to really see how your hard work pays off at the end. Cross country because I just love running, and I love the bond I make with other people. And it’s really cool to see others succeed.”

What do you use in cross country that helps you in band? And vice versa.

Cristian: Cross county has taught me that you have to work gradually for success. It’s not going to come instantaneously. Band has taught me that you can practice 30 minutes or 30 hours, but it has to take time to get done. Your performance has to maintain at its peak. You always have to perform like you’re going to perform.

Marlin: Cross country teaches me to keep going even when I’m really tired and it really helps me to stay positive in more than one way. Like when I have a bad run. Band teaches me to always be prepared and teaches me responsibility.

Is either activity personal over the other? How and why?

Cristian: I would say cross country’s more personal. Well, it’s close beause I’ve done both for a long time. But, I’d say cross country because it’s in the family and most my family does or did cross country; like my cousin right now who’s in Leander runs varsity. It’s like a family feud, but it actually makes us better. It’s made me stronger and makes me feel I can be good or better than our competition.

How does your extracurriculars give you hope?

Cristian: Vista Ridge gives me a lot of hope. I’ve seen younger people stepping in with more of a passion. I’ve been all through Vista Ridge. I’ve seen it all, and seniors when I was a freshman. It wasn’t the same. The seniors in my freshman year didn’t care. They would not run, they’d just go off and do something else. Now seniors actually try to run and push our team. It’s more competitive now, everyone wants to be number one. It’s more of a family, we have to work together as a team now.

Marlin: Cross country. Yeah, because you always want to P.R. in a race.

How do running and playing instruments correlate? Mentally?

Cristian: I think a good correlation you have to be committed to do it. For each one.

Marlin: They both are very physical. Band is very physical and so is cross country. It takes teamwork and relying on your teammates to help you and support you. They correlate mentally because you have to be very focused with band and timing and cross country with pace and who you want to keep up with.

What do you believe in? How does XC help? How does band help?

Cristian: I believe that everyone is able to do what they can to improve. You can pray all you want, but that’s not going to make anything better, but you have to do it yourself. If there’s something going bad, you have to fix it. There’s always a choice. You have to rise above your failure. If you don’t like something, change it.

When it’s all said and done, what will you take from cross country and band?

Cristian: I’ll take from both. I will always take that you can improve yourself. You can improve yourself and be better, and that’s great. In the real world, you have to work hard, and there will be physical competition. You can be happy with yourself, but I’m pretty sure you’ll be three times happier if you’re doing what you want to do and you’re winning. And I’m going to take from that. I’m going to take that I’ll have to work hard. When you’re number one, you’ll know you worked hard enough. It’s nice to be second and third, but they don’t write stories about second and third, they write stories about first. You always have to be your best, and at some point, you’ll be the best. Even if I’m not the best, that’s fine. But at least I tried. It only takes one shot to transform everything. You have to choose to keep going. Practice makes perfect, you just have to put in the hours to become that perfect.

Marlin: To persevere with goals and even if you don’t see the reaction at first, in the end you’ll always see it. And to always be prepared and know what you’re getting yourself into.