Tully: How track helped Ra’Shawn Jones overcome life’s hurdles

It’s fitting that Ra’Shawn Jones runs the hurdles for the Lawrence Central High School track team. After all, the 17-year-old senior has cleared one hurdle after another on his way to graduation day.

It’s easy to see how he could have stumbled, or could have used the obstacles in his path as an excuse to give up. But he kept fighting. And now he is not only graduating from high school but also preparing to attend Wabash College, where spots on the track and football teams await him, thanks to an academic scholarship that is the reward for years of hard work.

“If you’re talking about overcoming what life deals you in a positive way,” Will Patterson, his track coach, told me, “you couldn’t find a better example than Ra’Shawn. You couldn’t dream up a better example.”

On a recent Thursday, as butterflies invaded his stomach before sectionals, Ra’Shawn recalled the afternoon toward the end of his sophomore year when he and his mom were evicted from their apartment. He talked about the many mornings after that when he would wake up in a cheap motel a couple of miles from school. Or the nights when he and his mom would sleep in her car because they couldn’t afford even a motel room.

On those mornings, Ra’Shawn would still go to school. He’d still focus on his classes, working toward a 3.5 grade-point average. He’d still exert himself at football or track practices. He’d remain focused on his goal of going to college, a goal that grew more serious each time he woke up in the morning not sure where he’d sleep that night.

“There are too many examples out here showing what happens when you give up or don’t go to college,” he said. “Education is what you need or you’re going to be stuck your entire life. I don’t want to be stuck. That’s just not what I want to do with my life.”

Talk to Ra’Shawn for a few minutes, watch him smile and shake his head when discussing what he went through, and it’s hard to imagine him not accomplishing big things in life. But that doesn’t mean it’s been easy.

Born in New York, he moved with his mom and sister to Indiana when he was 9, rarely seeing his dad before or after. He said his childhood was a good one, filled with relatives and friends, and a close relationship with his mom. But persistent financial struggles led the family to move often and lose a series of apartments, eventually resulting in a nearly year-long period stretching across his sophomore and junior years in which he was at weekly risk of homelessness.

For several months, a motel room on Pendleton Pike became home for Ra’Shawn, his mom and his sister. With a TV and one bed, the small room wasn’t much for the three of them. It certainly wasn’t ideal for a student who had homework to do and who missed having friends over to his apartment. For the first time, Ra’Shawn said, he found himself feeling embarrassed.

So embarrassed that he’d walk out of the motel room in the morning, often after sleeping on the floor, and then sprint across Pendleton Pike to a school bus stop down the street. There, he’d act like he’d walked from one of the nearby apartment buildings.

“People started talking about it and asking questions,” he said. “I would duck and dodge them. I didn’t want people to see me at my lowest point.”

Several times, he returned from a track meet or school to find himself locked out of the motel room until his mother could come up with rent money. There were many other nights spent hungry. So he took a job at Waffle House to help out, routinely working back-to-back double shifts on the weekends. “How he dealt with all that, I’m beyond words,” Patterson said,

Ra’Shawn said three things in particular helped him deal with it. First, there was the belief that if he stuck it out and worked hard, the payoff would be worth it. Second, there were all the teachers and coaches who pushed and supported him. He smiled as he told me about English teacher Christina Hunt, who showed up at his family’s door one Christmas to deliver a turkey dinner and gifts. Third, there was his mom’s advice.

“You run hurdles,” she told him more than once. “Take us being homeless as a race with hurdles in front of us. Just know that the end isn’t here yet. This isn’t the finish line. We’re working to something better. We’ll get there.”

Track became his outlet, the place where he worked out his anger and frustrations. Each successful meet convinced him of what was possible and the routine of practices helped keep him focused. His coaches pushed him to give everything he had and to set an example for younger athletes. He said making it to the state finals as a junior gave him the opportunity “to show people that I could do the right thing.”

The family’s financial situation improved by the end of Ra’Shawn’s junior year, and he now lives in a small apartment near Lawrence Central. That has provided much-needed stability during his final year of high school. The family still struggles and Ra’Shawn still pulls those long Waffle House shifts. But life is better, and he’ll soon leave for a dorm room at Wabash.

On the day of sectionals, Ra’Shawn finished classes and then headed with his team to North Central. As the sun set, Ra’Shawn leaned down with nine other runners and waited for the start of the 110-meter hurdles. The top three finishers would go to regionals the next week with a chance to then make it to the state finals.

“I really want this,” Ra’Shawn had said earlier in the day. “I want to prove I can do it.”

The serious look on his face before the race made that abundantly clear.

As the starting gun went off, the runners dashed toward the first of 10 hurdles. Ra’Shawn took the lead immediately and crossed the finish line in 14.97 seconds, a step ahead of the second-place finisher.

He’ll be running the hurdles in Saturday’s state finals at Indiana University.

He’d cleared another set of hurdles. That wasn’t a surprise. He’s overcome a lot of them on his way to graduation.

You can reach me at matthew.tully@indystar.com.

Many nonprofit organizations are working to improve the lives of young people in Central Indiana. Here are several that are in need of volunteers and contributions:

Big Brothers Big Sisters

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana provides children ages 8 to 18 with 1-to-1 mentoring relationships. Being a "Big" requires a one-year commitment. Contact Big Brothers Big Sisters at www.bebigforkids.org or at (317) 921-2201.

Starfish Initiative

Many students in Indianapolis hope to become the first members of their families to attend college. The Starfish Initiative pairs college-educated mentors with academically promising students from low-income families. Contact the Starfish Initiative at (317) 955-7912 or at www.starfishinitiative.org.

ReadUp

Students who struggle with reading are at high risk of failing in school. Through ReadUP, volunteers spend one hour a week working with elementary school students. Contact ReadUP at (317) 925-7323 or at www.uwci.org/programs/readup.

Outreach Indiana

This organization serves young people at risk of homelessness. If you would like to contribute or volunteer, visit www.outreachindiana.org orfacebook.com/Outreach.Inc.Indiana. You can also call (317) 951-8886.

Women’s Fund of Central Indiana

This group is working to help young at-risk women find a path toward economic and personal stability. To contribute or learn more about the Women’s Fund, go towww.womensfund.org/ or call (317) 634-2423.

Child Advocates

Child Advocates supports the interests of minors in Child in Need of Services cases. If you would like to learn more about how you can volunteer, please call (317) 205-3055 or visit www.childadvocates.net.

The Overcomers

Columnist Matthew Tully is profiling Central Indiana high school seniors who have overcome tremendous obstacles on their path to graduation.

May 22:Megan Bone, a Warren Central High student, learned to soar after her mother fell victim to opioid addiction.

May 25:Macy Huff was paralyzed in a cheerleading accident as a freshman. But she refused to let that stand in the way of her dreams and will graduate from Ben Davis High this spring.

May 27:Tommy Scott has dealt with a learning disability and a form of muscular dystrophy that progresses with particular speed. He’ll soon be his family’s first graduate.

May 29:Jeanine Hakizimana, a refugee from Kenya whose parents died when she was young, will graduate from North Central.

Friday: Ra’Shawn Jones overcame homelessness on his way to graduating from Lawrence Central and earning a scholarship to Wabash College.

Sunday: Dakota Gensler, who spent most of his childhood in foster care, is a 2016 Danville High School graduate. He says he’s learned to never give up.