Kai Sano-Giles faces one of the biggest challenges a student can face — transferring schools. Halfway through the summer he finds out he will be attending NHS for his junior year. Kai knows absolutely no one at Neenah and isn’t looking forward to the school year.

“The hardest thing about transferring schools was switching from a big school where I knew lots of people to a big school where I knew nobody.”

Being an athlete at his prior school, Appleton North, Kai turns to athletics to help acquaint him to the school after finding out Neenah has scarce resources for transfer students.

A sprinter in track and cross country runner he tries out football, after two months of practices he decides it isn’t for him. Disliking the competitiveness of football, he finds himself at Camp Onaway for cross country camp just a day later.

“If I didn’t do cross country it would’ve been a lot harder transferring schools.”

Not only has cross country made it an easier transition, but it helps Kai improve athletically and mentally. Athletically he shaves 2 minutes of his best 5k time this season.

At Appleton North, it is more of a competition between teammates where at Neenah it is like a family; everyone is helping each other to get better. This helps him tremendously as a runner. Mentally cross-country is a huge stress reliever for him, and it makes his academics easier because of lower stress levels.

Cross country for Kai is like a giant friend group; it helps him get comfortable entering a new school, lets him meet a bunch of new people, and allows him to see the school before the year.

For students like himself, whether it’s a sport or a club he encourages them give it a run.