Jerelleen Thomas '16 Recruiting Profile

My name is Jerelleen Thomas and I am currently attending Hayward High School (California) currently, with a GPA of 3.33. I will graduate in 2016, I hope to go to one of the CSU or HBCU colleges and dream to run track in college, I dream to be successful, I don't want to have to see my mother struggle any longer. I do not only run track, I also play basketball for my school & I am on the Step Team, but track is my #1 priority, after my education. I run the 4x100m relay, the 100m dash, Triple Jump & Long Jump. I plan on running track the rest of my high school career, and dream to go further on running in college. My top 10 choice colleges would be California State University East Bay, California State University Dominguez Hills, California State University San Marcos, Howard University, Langston, and Chabot College. But I am open to look into any school where I can get quality education and also be able to run track. I would love to have a career in Psychology, I used t want to be a pediatrician but as I went through high school it has changed. I feel I am a well rounded, open minded and outgoing individual, I am confident that my grades are sufficient enough to get me into a good college, I love track & field and would love to continue running. 

Prompt: Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.

Growing up I always had this vision of being out in front of all those flashing bright lights and cameras on TV in front of millions of people, in one place.. on the track in the olympics, I was bound to make my dream come true this vision will soon be my reality, my destiny, my fate. When I was young I used to sit in front of the TV all day watching the olympics getting excited to watch my idol go out there and leave a mark, seeing myself in his shoes, in his spotlight, with his fame, doing something we both love. My idol was always and still is Usain Bolt, I simply admire him. As a kid I used to always go running with my dad, we'd race to a destination & back home. I used to always watch track & field on TV whenever I had the chance. I remember always saying, "That's gonna be me out there one day mommy, on that track, coming out of those blocks leaving everybody behind me. That's gonna be me, one day". As I grew up, my dream and desire to reach the Olympics grew.

    As I got older I always wanted to join a track club. The only problem with joining a track club was, my parent didn't have the money to put me in one. So as I grew up the only type of running I ever did was racing my dad. But soon that came to an end, my parents were getting a divorce. As a middle school child I thought I had so much on my plate, looking back I didn't have as much on my plate compared to now. All I really focused on was, my dad wasn't gonna be by my side anymore and I always thought the divorce was my fault.

    Somehow, the divorce made my dream to be in the Olympics even stronger. Even though I didn't have my father with me to go running anymore, I turned to PE. Physical Education became my outlet to running, I always acted like I was in competition with my other classmates when we did running activities. But, PE wasn't enough so I suggested to the principle that we should create a track team, but that suggestion did not get very far. I wasn't gonna give up, nobody could tell me no about my dreams. I tried so hard to gather students who wanted to run track, but at my middle school it was all about basketball. I decided to just wait until high school to join an actual track team, I figured high school wasn't very far away.

    As I entered my freshman year in high school, all I could talk about was joining the track team. My dreams of running on an actual team will finally be coming true in some months. As track season rolls around, everything is so new to me, but I knew exactly what events I wanted to do & how I was going to do them and get first in every single event. What I didn't know was how much hard work was soon to come my way, but somehow I was more ready than ever. Track was my long time goal in life & the Olympics is what i'm going to reach.

    Track & Field has taught me so much about myself I never thought was possible. I've grown so much as an athlete but more importantly as a person. These past seasons have pushed me to limits I never thought i'd reach. I always thought track was a happy go lucky sport, which it is but with tears, pain & so much more. I always thought track practice was just about what events you do, but it's about the limits you can exceed to reach the top of your events. Whenever I got anything below 2nd place in an event i'd cry. My mom always said to me, "Why are you crying? you should always have a positive attitude. You don't think Usain Bolt failed before? He must have failed many times, but he didn't let that stop him & that's why he's where he is today. You're gonna fail, but it's up to you what you let it make of you". And that's the moment my dreams became as strong as ever. Track is about how strong of a person you are, you have to have heart for the sport to even last. You have to have great people skills, even though track is an individual sport. How you perform, how much you learn, what you do in practice doesn't all revolve around your coach, it falls back to you & your teammates also. How much of a help you are, how supportive you are, how much of a team player you are, your leadership skills, you have to not only help yourself be successful you have to care about others also. Track requires so much heart, you have to be able to lose a race & still keep in mind that there's another one coming & you learned well enough from that loss to push yourself to be the one winning next time. You have to fall & bring yourself back up. Track is the fundamental of all sports, like the mother of sports. Track is life, and my goal to reach the Olympics still stand.

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