when I say the word student-athlete what
comes to mind
maybe it’s the college football game you
defaulted to so you could avoid another
Geico commercial maybe it’s the freshman
that swam away to an Olympic gold medal
in between classes or maybe it’s that
kid at the dining hall with like five
plates who’s going back for seconds and
thirds I actually got a laugh at that
one because anyone who actually knows me
knows that that that last kid is is
definitely me
you see as both student and athlete I
get this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
to take the passion I’ve cultivated on
the field into the classroom into a
place where professors teach us to
challenge ourselves a place where we
learn to challenge each other a place
where we explore new ways of challenging
the world around us but the very
challenge of living between the whistle
and the school bell comes with so much
more than shuffling into class after
practice or finding new ways to smuggle
food into philosophy lectures or
actually in my case waking up a 5:00
a.m. to practice and just hoping you
don’t get a cold call during contract
law but it does come with this challenge
of identity at times of reconciling who
you are and how your voice is going to
be used with who the world expects you
to be and the boxes that we often find
ourselves put in and maybe you agree
with me mate maybe this is something
that we all experience in terms of
challenge but it’s important to note
that these challenges don’t show any
prejudice towards age or whether you’re
a freshman or in graduate school you see
I was only a sophomore when George
Zimmerman murdered Trayvon Martin and
looking at the article briefly my
notions of justice and fair play
didn’t all agree with what the court had
ruled or even how something like this
could happen but I mean what was I gonna
do I was I was just a student and at
that time to be honest going to law
school was out of the question it was
expensive and we all know lawyers talk
entirely too much but in looking at this
child’s face I check this uncanny
resemblance he had to these everyday
people in my
if you see Trayvon was my little brother
Trayvon was my teammate that measured
out my distances in Long Jump Trayvon
was even the kid in my English lecture
that waved me down when there was
nowhere else to sit so naturally I I
took to Twitter just just supposed to
comment wishing that his life his family
his legacy like all of us receives
justice and to be honest this is no
different than the way I feel about the
law now because regardless of what you
look like what you believe where you’re
from we all deserve justice and I
believe that don’t you but what people
said about what I had tweeted is
actually why I’m here today
you see people told me I should stick to
running in circles people told me that I
should let regular individuals handle
this
people even told me I should stick to
playing in the sand and at that very
moment as a student-athlete
I had no voice my voice went only about
as far as I could jump or as far as my
athletic ability how devastating but
suddenly this was about so much more
than being a student-athlete this is
about being a human being a human being
was out of voice and I’m wondering if
this sounds like any of you I mean
seriously how how different is this from
raising your hand in class or writing an
op-ed or kneeling at a football game is
it any different than standing alongside
those in support of the women’s March or
standing behind our military during
times of controversy why on earth are we
so hard on people that step outside of
this box and challenge perspectives why
for example aren’t we encouraging more
student athletes to use their voice and
how did we get here how did we get to
this point in society where we’re
reducing people to these one-dimensional
characteristics that don’t even begin to
do justice to their their potential in
their voice now I got to be honest I I
might never find the answer to any of
these questions but a month after this
happened I certainly thought I did you
see I found myself among scores of other
travelers enjoying the
hospitality of airport security and I
didn’t think I look too abnormal I mean
I mean had a cinnamon colored suit on
with a charcoal grey tie it actually
seemed to fit and and to be honest with
you none of that mattered because for
the first time in like three months
I had managed to get all of the sand out
of my socks which is a huge
accomplishment for people in my event
but even with all that being said
someone still managed to come up to me
and ask me what’s he my plate for and
and and how this person knew I was an
athlete still escaped from you to this
day but I tell him I’m a proud Lobo he
asked me what sport I play well my event
is how far I jump he wishes me well and
we go our separate ways but when I got
to my plane I’m overhearing another
conversation between a passenger and a
student that sounds strikingly identical
to mine except for the questions they’re
being asked questions like what’s your
major why’d you choose the school you
chose and what are you gonna do after
you graduate and as I’m looking out of
the window I couldn’t help but wonder
why no one ever asked me these questions
and honestly it brought me back to the
tweet I had sent about Trayvon Martin a
month prior and and a couple the dot
started to connect for me you see maybe
the issue that society has with student
athletes using their voice or even just
athletes using their voice has nothing
to do with our majors or where we go to
school because maybe the real problem is
that society doesn’t believe that
student athletes are really students at
all and this is this is this is this is
something that’s so amazing to me
because I mean maybe they don’t want it
maybe because to them were just
entertainment I mean we’re the people
that you turn to when Monday night
football is over or when the World
Series is ends or if you didn’t get
tickets to the World Cup I mean of
course fans will come out to the games
they’ll listen to the radio interviews
they’ll even stream the top ten plays of
the season but how many college sports
fans that you know can honestly tell you
anything about the academic pursuits of
any of their favorite student athletes
it’s a striking finding really because
even looking statistically at at a at a
spectator sport like football over
74,000 student-athletes only 250 of them
roughly are gonna get drafted to the NFL
this means that over 73,000 of these
kids are gonna go pro in something other
than their sport they’re gonna
contribute to society in ways that go
far beyond what they were ever gonna do
athletically and yet these same
individuals are told that their voice
only goes as far as they could throw a
football at the very minute we step
outside of this box that we’ve been put
in we’re told we have to be quiet and as
I look at all of you I can’t help but
wonder how many of you guys have ever
been there how many of you guys have
ever been told to keep your opinions and
your perspectives to yourselves because
it supposedly went outside your scope a
scope that may have been because of
where you were from what you look like
or what you believed you see the very
minute we believe this lie that our
perspectives and our story is irrelevant
we stop using our voice altogether but
I’m wondering if you stopped using your
voice whose story wouldn’t get told you
see any time we muzzle groups and and
other people we don’t just miss out on
these critical opportunities to learn we
missed out on perspectives we miss out
on these stories that inspire and fill
us with courage and it’s in this way
that your voice is really one of the
highlights of life in part because
wherever you go your story goes with you
and the world is just waiting to hear
this story the world is waiting to hear
from you for anyone that’s that’s gone
to school engaging with the world around
us and challenging perspectives is the
very essence of our educational system
but how can we sit here and say that we
endorsed this model of growth and
scholarship through learning if we’re
discouraging people from using their
voice how can we actually say that and
and and for student athletes this is
something that’s incredibly important to
us because this is one of the very many
ways that we learn in fact to this day
one of my favorite quotes out of my
philosophy class came came from Plato is
he’s talking about justice and he
actually goes on to say that in order
for man to succeed in life God gave God
gave us these two things
not to be used separately as one for the
soul and one for the body but to be used
together and that is through these means
of education and physical activity that
man can actually achieve perfection now
no one’s perfect but but this this idea
of creating a union between athletics
and academics is the very nature of
being a student athlete or even just
staying physically active while you’re
in school and it’s because of this that
there’s not a single person in the world
that can tell me that academics and
athletics don’t go together but even
with all that being said this doesn’t
make speaking out any easier we still
need to be strategic and think
critically about the issues that were
actually addressing we need to
understand there’s these risks and be
willing to commit to our cause beyond
circumstance and in order to do this we
need the support of our peers and we
need the support because the world is
waiting to hear from you you see this
land is is supposed to be your land this
land is supposed to be my land too but
if this land is truly meant for you and
me then why don’t we encourage each
other to draw this voice within all of
us because the world is waiting to hear
from you everyone has this unique story
this this voice that is so specific to
our own experiences and for every one
person that has the courage to use their
voice wisely they enabled dozens more to
do the same when I was first starting
out and figuring out how I was gonna use
my voice and and really where I fit in
the world all I wanted was for one day
my community and my country to hear from
me and I stand before you today as an
Olympic hopeful and a law student at
Georgetown University and realizing that
the time to use your voice is right now
the time for you to use your voice is
right now the world hopefully one day
hear from me but your time is now
because the world is waiting to hear
from you thank you
you
comes to mind
maybe it’s the college football game you
defaulted to so you could avoid another
Geico commercial maybe it’s the freshman
that swam away to an Olympic gold medal
in between classes or maybe it’s that
kid at the dining hall with like five
plates who’s going back for seconds and
thirds I actually got a laugh at that
one because anyone who actually knows me
knows that that that last kid is is
definitely me
you see as both student and athlete I
get this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
to take the passion I’ve cultivated on
the field into the classroom into a
place where professors teach us to
challenge ourselves a place where we
learn to challenge each other a place
where we explore new ways of challenging
the world around us but the very
challenge of living between the whistle
and the school bell comes with so much
more than shuffling into class after
practice or finding new ways to smuggle
food into philosophy lectures or
actually in my case waking up a 5:00
a.m. to practice and just hoping you
don’t get a cold call during contract
law but it does come with this challenge
of identity at times of reconciling who
you are and how your voice is going to
be used with who the world expects you
to be and the boxes that we often find
ourselves put in and maybe you agree
with me mate maybe this is something
that we all experience in terms of
challenge but it’s important to note
that these challenges don’t show any
prejudice towards age or whether you’re
a freshman or in graduate school you see
I was only a sophomore when George
Zimmerman murdered Trayvon Martin and
looking at the article briefly my
notions of justice and fair play
didn’t all agree with what the court had
ruled or even how something like this
could happen but I mean what was I gonna
do I was I was just a student and at
that time to be honest going to law
school was out of the question it was
expensive and we all know lawyers talk
entirely too much but in looking at this
child’s face I check this uncanny
resemblance he had to these everyday
people in my
if you see Trayvon was my little brother
Trayvon was my teammate that measured
out my distances in Long Jump Trayvon
was even the kid in my English lecture
that waved me down when there was
nowhere else to sit so naturally I I
took to Twitter just just supposed to
comment wishing that his life his family
his legacy like all of us receives
justice and to be honest this is no
different than the way I feel about the
law now because regardless of what you
look like what you believe where you’re
from we all deserve justice and I
believe that don’t you but what people
said about what I had tweeted is
actually why I’m here today
you see people told me I should stick to
running in circles people told me that I
should let regular individuals handle
this
people even told me I should stick to
playing in the sand and at that very
moment as a student-athlete
I had no voice my voice went only about
as far as I could jump or as far as my
athletic ability how devastating but
suddenly this was about so much more
than being a student-athlete this is
about being a human being a human being
was out of voice and I’m wondering if
this sounds like any of you I mean
seriously how how different is this from
raising your hand in class or writing an
op-ed or kneeling at a football game is
it any different than standing alongside
those in support of the women’s March or
standing behind our military during
times of controversy why on earth are we
so hard on people that step outside of
this box and challenge perspectives why
for example aren’t we encouraging more
student athletes to use their voice and
how did we get here how did we get to
this point in society where we’re
reducing people to these one-dimensional
characteristics that don’t even begin to
do justice to their their potential in
their voice now I got to be honest I I
might never find the answer to any of
these questions but a month after this
happened I certainly thought I did you
see I found myself among scores of other
travelers enjoying the
hospitality of airport security and I
didn’t think I look too abnormal I mean
I mean had a cinnamon colored suit on
with a charcoal grey tie it actually
seemed to fit and and to be honest with
you none of that mattered because for
the first time in like three months
I had managed to get all of the sand out
of my socks which is a huge
accomplishment for people in my event
but even with all that being said
someone still managed to come up to me
and ask me what’s he my plate for and
and and how this person knew I was an
athlete still escaped from you to this
day but I tell him I’m a proud Lobo he
asked me what sport I play well my event
is how far I jump he wishes me well and
we go our separate ways but when I got
to my plane I’m overhearing another
conversation between a passenger and a
student that sounds strikingly identical
to mine except for the questions they’re
being asked questions like what’s your
major why’d you choose the school you
chose and what are you gonna do after
you graduate and as I’m looking out of
the window I couldn’t help but wonder
why no one ever asked me these questions
and honestly it brought me back to the
tweet I had sent about Trayvon Martin a
month prior and and a couple the dot
started to connect for me you see maybe
the issue that society has with student
athletes using their voice or even just
athletes using their voice has nothing
to do with our majors or where we go to
school because maybe the real problem is
that society doesn’t believe that
student athletes are really students at
all and this is this is this is this is
something that’s so amazing to me
because I mean maybe they don’t want it
maybe because to them were just
entertainment I mean we’re the people
that you turn to when Monday night
football is over or when the World
Series is ends or if you didn’t get
tickets to the World Cup I mean of
course fans will come out to the games
they’ll listen to the radio interviews
they’ll even stream the top ten plays of
the season but how many college sports
fans that you know can honestly tell you
anything about the academic pursuits of
any of their favorite student athletes
it’s a striking finding really because
even looking statistically at at a at a
spectator sport like football over
74,000 student-athletes only 250 of them
roughly are gonna get drafted to the NFL
this means that over 73,000 of these
kids are gonna go pro in something other
than their sport they’re gonna
contribute to society in ways that go
far beyond what they were ever gonna do
athletically and yet these same
individuals are told that their voice
only goes as far as they could throw a
football at the very minute we step
outside of this box that we’ve been put
in we’re told we have to be quiet and as
I look at all of you I can’t help but
wonder how many of you guys have ever
been there how many of you guys have
ever been told to keep your opinions and
your perspectives to yourselves because
it supposedly went outside your scope a
scope that may have been because of
where you were from what you look like
or what you believed you see the very
minute we believe this lie that our
perspectives and our story is irrelevant
we stop using our voice altogether but
I’m wondering if you stopped using your
voice whose story wouldn’t get told you
see any time we muzzle groups and and
other people we don’t just miss out on
these critical opportunities to learn we
missed out on perspectives we miss out
on these stories that inspire and fill
us with courage and it’s in this way
that your voice is really one of the
highlights of life in part because
wherever you go your story goes with you
and the world is just waiting to hear
this story the world is waiting to hear
from you for anyone that’s that’s gone
to school engaging with the world around
us and challenging perspectives is the
very essence of our educational system
but how can we sit here and say that we
endorsed this model of growth and
scholarship through learning if we’re
discouraging people from using their
voice how can we actually say that and
and and for student athletes this is
something that’s incredibly important to
us because this is one of the very many
ways that we learn in fact to this day
one of my favorite quotes out of my
philosophy class came came from Plato is
he’s talking about justice and he
actually goes on to say that in order
for man to succeed in life God gave God
gave us these two things
not to be used separately as one for the
soul and one for the body but to be used
together and that is through these means
of education and physical activity that
man can actually achieve perfection now
no one’s perfect but but this this idea
of creating a union between athletics
and academics is the very nature of
being a student athlete or even just
staying physically active while you’re
in school and it’s because of this that
there’s not a single person in the world
that can tell me that academics and
athletics don’t go together but even
with all that being said this doesn’t
make speaking out any easier we still
need to be strategic and think
critically about the issues that were
actually addressing we need to
understand there’s these risks and be
willing to commit to our cause beyond
circumstance and in order to do this we
need the support of our peers and we
need the support because the world is
waiting to hear from you you see this
land is is supposed to be your land this
land is supposed to be my land too but
if this land is truly meant for you and
me then why don’t we encourage each
other to draw this voice within all of
us because the world is waiting to hear
from you everyone has this unique story
this this voice that is so specific to
our own experiences and for every one
person that has the courage to use their
voice wisely they enabled dozens more to
do the same when I was first starting
out and figuring out how I was gonna use
my voice and and really where I fit in
the world all I wanted was for one day
my community and my country to hear from
me and I stand before you today as an
Olympic hopeful and a law student at
Georgetown University and realizing that
the time to use your voice is right now
the time for you to use your voice is
right now the world hopefully one day
hear from me but your time is now
because the world is waiting to hear
from you thank you
you
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