Briana Reckling leaving her mark on South Carolina community
COLUMBIA, S.C. (BVM) 鈥� South Carolina track and field alumnus Briana Reckling wants to be remembered for more than her time on the track. The former Gamecock and two-time SEC community service team member is passionate about impacting those in her community.聽
Reckling started running track at the age of seven. She has been participating in community service events for just as long.聽
鈥淚t was always something that was in my head that I have to give back to others, even if I might not have anything,鈥� Reckling said. 鈥淚 would go to like little turkey drives when I was younger with my family, with all my younger teammates.鈥�
Like athletics, community service runs in the family. Reckling鈥檚 brothers all played sports, and together with the rest of their family, they found different ways to impact the community.聽
鈥淪erving my community has been installed in me and my siblings,鈥� Reckling said. 鈥淢y dad was very, very heavy on community service and we are a church churchgoing family,鈥�
In high school, Reckling continued track and community service. Her coach was a big advocate for service and helped push her to do more. All of the influences around her pushed her to better her community and made community service as big a priority as track.
鈥淭he influences from my family, from my coaches, my friends that I was with and their parents they were all really big on just giving back to the community, and then when I came to college, I was still going to do it no matter what,鈥� Reckling said.
When the time came to pick a college, South Carolina was 鈥渙ne of the last schools鈥� Reckling was looking at. After being accepted, she made a call to the coach and set up an official visit.聽
Her visit made her choice clear. The culture of the team and the community at the university and city of Columbia stood out more than at other schools.聽
鈥淚 just loved the campus, and I loved the community, and I loved the team, and it was just a very welcoming environment for me, and I just fell in love,鈥� Reckling said. 鈥淚 knew it was an amazing track program and I knew that I committed to this school, that it would possibly take me to my goals that I had not only with track but my academics too.鈥�
While at South Carolina, Reckling participated in many service activities and joined organizations that helped incoming students. She was a member of Move in Carolina where she assisted freshmen moving onto campus and she was part of the University of South Carolina Black Medical Student Association where she assisted with handing out comfort packages to the homeless.聽
Reckling made sure not to forget her roots in the process. She made time to return to her old high school in New Jersey to train and coach the kids on the track team.聽
鈥淚 kind of acted like an assistant coach in their off-season and as a mentor to some of the kids there,鈥� Reckling said. 鈥淚 would help with the competitions, training sessions and meetings, during the summer, whenever I could, because they were preparing for cross country, and I was kind of acting as a mentor,鈥�
Helping the athletes at her old high school gave Reckling the opportunity to advise the kids on the next straps in their track careers.聽
鈥淚 know what it’s like, high school track,鈥� Reckling said 鈥淚t’s really, really fun, and some kids might wanna go on to collegiate track and scholarships to pay for college, and I kind of wanted to help out with that because I know that’s what I needed when I was in high school,鈥�
Reckling hopes she left a good impression on those kids. She wants them to remember to never quit and keep pushing no matter how hard things get.
鈥淛ust take each day as a new day to be better than you were yesterday, so you work a little bit harder in practice today, and just trust yourself,鈥� Reckling said. 鈥淚 definitely try to install them to not quit and to trust themselves, trust their hard work and trust their coaches because it got me to the collegiate level.鈥�
Doing these activities has given Reckling the opportunity to make an impact that people will always remember. She does not want to be known as just a track athlete, she wants to be known as a good person who impacted people in a positive way.聽
鈥淲hen I first came to South Carolina, one of my goals was to make a lasting impact on the university and the community, and it’s allowed me to broaden my horizons and achieve excellence,鈥� Reckling said. 鈥淚 was able to use my platform to touch so many lives, and honestly, that’s what keeps me going, being able to see how I’ve helped somebody in any kind of way, whether it’s opening the door for them, packing groceries for them or tutoring some kids, so it’s what life is really all about to me.鈥�
Reckling has graduated from the university and will move on to her next phase of life. She hopes to find an opportunity to coach track at the middle or high school level. No matter what happens next, her desire to better the community around her is still there and won鈥檛 be going anywhere anytime soon.聽
鈥淚 moved to a new city, so I’m getting a little bit used to life now,” Reckling said, “but I definitely still plan to be active in my community; that’s definitely not gonna stop.”
