It's my first time ever in Southern California. I have preconceived notions of the area just flooded with designer clothing, bleach blond hair, plastic surgeries, vain personalities, over sized Louis Vuitton totes with ratlike dogs inside, you get my picture. Ironically enough, my first trip to southern California is during our MaxPreps Citizen Athlete Tour presented by the National Guard that honors recipient, Da'rell Andrews. Little did I know, my "SoCal" stereotype was soon to be proven wrong.
I arrive in San Diego loving the partly cloudy skies, warm weather and vacation-like atmosphere. Of course I tell the hotel bellhop that this is my first trip out here. He immediately apologizes for the poor weather, claiming its been "unseasonably cold." I reply, telling him that I'm from the Northeast and just seeing a palm tree is enough to put me in a cheery mode. He laughs and I continue on to my room. I gather together my gear for my Citizen Athlete Tour stop to Midway Baptist Schools and soon I'm on my way.
Da'rell Andrews, a senior at
Midway Baptist (San Diego, Calif.) High School, might have been considered a big fish in a small pond, until today. Out of nearly one thousand nominations nationwide Da'rell is one out of only ten receiving the MaxPreps Citizen Athlete Award presented by the National Guard. Do you need some validation? Da'rell withstands a GPA of 3.9, putting him fourth in his class, named to the San Diego Tribune All-Academic team the past 2 years, a member of the National Honors Society for the past 3 years, community involvement in Angel Tree, Midway Baptist volunteered youth coordinator, Special Olympics volunteer, and an extremely successful High School athlete. He makes for the model citizen athlete in my book.
I pull into Midway Baptist High School, almost confusing the school for a beach side resort. The students are dismissed for lunch, which is held outside in a courtyard area. The National Guards(wo)men have a huge tent set up where students are curiously visiting. Soon enough I meet up with the Citizen Athlete presenter, Captain McAlister from the California National Guard and MaxPreps representative, John Egidio. We go over our order of events and before any of us know it, Athletic Director Mr. Horton tells us the ceremony is about to start. Students begin filing in looking onto the court toward our Citizen Athlete display.
Mr. Horton then takes the mic, making the students aware that this particular assembly is especially important to him. He mentions that today's school gathering is to recognize excellence and achievement. Mr. Horton then calls onto the court the Patriot cheerleading squad, that of which had won a Southern California tournament that prior weekend. The girls take the floor and I am dazzled by their talent. I don't know much about cheerleading, but the acrobatics involved certainly had me impressed. After their performance, the girls, and Guardsmen grabbed some commemorative National Guard footballs, visors, and t-shirts and proceeded to throw them to the students and faculty. Like seagulls on a beach the students swarmed to where the prizes were thrown. Mr. Horton than takes the mic again and introduces MaxPreps rep, John Egidio. John tells the audience more about what it takes to be the ideal Citizen Athlete. One must stand out within the community by showing leadership and guidance, excel academically as well as succeed athletically. John than introduces National Guardsman Captain McAlister. The Captain initiates excitement within the gymnasium by immediately revealing our Citizen Athlete regional winner, Da'rell Andrews. He then expands on Da'rell's particular achievements, making him a likely candidate for our award. The ceremony concludes with final interviews with Da'rell, where he shows tremendous grace and composure in front of a video camera. As I'm packing up, Da'rell kindly offers me assistance and before I know it, I'm sadly leaving my dream school and pleasantly relieved by my misinterpretation of southern California. I wish Da'rell all the best next year at Duke University, though I'm sure he will continue to wow classmates and faculty with his many talents while sustaining modesty and passion for helping others.