As I ran through the halls with my head down, arms extended straight behind me and knees slightly bent, I could not have felt more stupid. I looked similar to an airplane during takeoff and my face was like Kawhi Leonard’s in a game: unamused.

I had accepted a challenge to try a new trend known as “Naruto running,” a type of sprint inspired by popular anime character Naruto. I had no clue what was so enticing about this trend, but I was interested in it due to its widespread appearance in viral YouTube and Instagram videos.

So on Sept. 28 when my dad dropped me off at school at 8 a.m., I impersonated Naruto to the best of my abilities, quickly dashing through the quad to my second-period Spanish class.

Naruto running was much more embarrassing than I had imagined. I avoided the eyes and the laughs of other students as they observed my ridiculous behavior.

Up until lunch, my crazed impersonation of Naruto made me feel singled out and strange. Even worse, my friends did not want to hang out with me, resulting in a lonely Naruto run to fourth period.

Yet, there was a major upside to Naruto running. Luckily for me, the juniors’ quad day began at lunch, and this was my time to shine.

When the lunch bell rang, I bolted out of my fourth-period class and sprinted for the quad. I arrived at the bleachers much earlier than other students and quickly reserved the best spots for my friends. I was glad to finally be able to use this seemingly pointless trend for something useful.

This moment also happened to be the turning point of my school day. Earlier, I felt as if people were judging me. People didn’t seem to appreciate my inaccurate anime sound effects — as a matter of fact, I was told that I sounded more like a racecar than Naruto himself.

In reality, people thought I was actually funny. In the morning, one of my friends came up to me laughing, saying, “Dude, this is way funnier than your stupid puns,” a comment I ignored out of embarrassment.

I realized that people were laughing at me because they found my impression of Naruto so lousy that it was hilarious.

So, for the rest of the day, instead of being embarrassed of my running, I tried to brighten as many people’s days as possible.

When the lunch bell rang, instead of heading straight to my sixth-period class, I sprinted around the entire school, taking detours and random turns to show off my Naruto impersonation.

Along the way, I received laughs and even a few high-fives. When I did arrive in my sixth-period class, I was glad to have made so many other students smile and to have exercised a little.

The point is, although this trend may seem bizarre and unnecessary to the people not involved in it, it is all an attempt at comedy. If you can try new things and make fun of yourself, people will love you more than if you stay in your comfort zone.

So hopefully, if you saw the “weirdo with the tan hoodie running around like Naruto,” he brightened your day. Trust me: He really did not want to burn any of those calories in vain.