It’s 5 a.m., the sun is barely rising, and she is already awake, getting ready for powerlifting practice at 6:15. Then, she pushes through the next eight grueling hours of school. After school, golf practice runs until 5:30, followed by a trip to the gym. Around 7:30, when she is done working out, she has to finish up all of her homework and finally goes to bed around 11:30. This is the relentless life of senior Dakota Donaldson.
Donaldson is a two-year state qualifier for powerlifting, qualifying her junior and senior year. She consistently sets big goals for herself. Some of her goals consist of breaking the school bench record, making top ten academics in her class, and following through with her medical pathway career. She successfully achieved all of these goals.
“I am involved in powerlifting, golf, ASL club, yearbook and PALs,” Donaldson said. “It is difficult, but once you get into the rhythm, it’s not too bad. You have to make a schedule and stick to it.”
ASL teacher Nikki Self has known Donaldson for three years and says she is an amazing, hardworking individual.
“She puts her whole heart into everything she does,” Self said. “She has an intense schedule and puts a lot of pressure on herself. Last year, before she made regionals, she thought it was going to be the end of the road. So we [her class] were like, ‘You have worked so hard, we are all so proud.’ We bought her favorite ice cream, and we had an ice cream party, only to find out she made it to state and couldn’t participate [in the ice cream party] at all, so she could maintain weight.”
For all four years of high school, powerlifting coach and PALs teacher Andi Holly has watched her grow as an athlete.
“There is no one like her,” Holly said. “She is the top of the top. She is very intrinsically motivated, and she doesn’t require us to do a lot to encourage her because she naturally is a hard worker. She sets her own goals and isn’t satisfied until she reaches them. She is the first one in the weight room and the last one out every single day to make sure that she gets what she has to get done.”
One of Donaldson’s close friends, junior Kenzie Arellano, said that while Donaldson’s schedule may seem intense, Arellano sees things about her that most people don’t see. She explains how they first became gym partners.
“She’s stern and driven, and sometimes that’s the only thing people can see,” Arellano said. “But she’s actually really funny. We were in the same position [in powerlifting when we first became friends], we just saw each other and helped each other out. We partnered up and worked together through it all.”
Donaldson said her main motivation is her determination to reach new goals and her supportive family.
“She wants to make her family proud,” Holly said. “Because her family is so close-knit, she really wants to impress them. They are really a nuclear unit.”
Donaldson doesn’t just have her family by her side, she has great friends, too. They both challenge each other mutually.
“I work out with Kenzie Arellano a lot,” Donaldson said. “We both push each other. Over this year, we both wanted to get 225 for bench. She got it first, then I was like, ‘Well, now I have to do it because she did it.’ It’s a friendly competition, and we did it all year.”
At the regional powerlifting meet this year, Donaldson’s resilience was tested.
“She started out the meet with back-to-back two reds (A red light indicates if the lifter makes an error during their lift, making it not count),” Holly said. “She was close to bombing out at the regional meet her senior year, where she had a chance to go to state. She took it on the chin [with] the first two, realized what she did wrong, didn’t become overwhelmed, didn’t start crying and didn’t blame anyone else. She internalized it, fixed it, went on and got her lift and qualified for state.”
Self said that last year, when Donaldson was preparing for her last powerlifting meet, she noticed her resilience.
“She was still gaining as far as her weight that she was lifting, and trying to maintain her grades, as well as her personal life, and also applying for a job at the same time,” Self said. “And she would stick to her guns, no matter what it was. It’s amazing to watch her in her extracurriculars, as well as maintaining straight A’s, and everything else at the same time.”
At state, she tied for third but lost the tie because she weighed 0.3 pounds more than her opponent.
“I broke the record the first time at 225, then at state 235,” Donaldson said. “Academically, [my goals] were just trying to stay in the top ten, and I am tenth in my class. Long term, I want to be a NICU nurse.”
April 25, she just passed her National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT) test, which means she is now a nationally certified EMT.
The advice Donaldson gives to others trying to balance their goals is simple.
“Just go for it,” Donaldson said. “My mom has always said you can do anything you put your mind to. It might seem like a lot, and sometimes you just go for it. If you fail, you fail. If you get it, then you get it.”
