Participants:
Series Code: LTBW
Program Code: LTBW000002A
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00:35 Hi, I'm Dr. Kim and welcome to Live to be Well.
00:39 You know, I have great concerns about athletes today, 00:43 especially African-Americans. 00:45 My guest today is Dr. Jeffrey Porter. 00:48 And he is going to talk to us about some of the challenges 00:51 about misconceptions of academics and sports. 00:55 Welcome, Dr. Porter to Live to be Well. 00:57 Thank you, Dr. Kim. It's so good to see you. 01:00 It's a pleasure to be here with you today. 01:01 I'm so proud of you 01:03 and going back a little bit, how we met. 01:07 I remember that first phone call 01:10 and you went to Shanghai. 01:12 And you were looking for a therapist. 01:16 You were having some challenges in your personal life 01:19 and I got really excited 'cause I knew the name 01:23 because you're a two time Olympian. 01:27 And I recognized the name so, 01:29 you know, that ego got a little bit. 01:31 And you kind of deflated the ego when you said to me, 01:34 "Well, you know, I called other people 01:35 but you were the only one that called me back." 01:38 And it was all good, we all need to be humble. 01:41 But it was a good connection from that first phone call 01:45 and to see you evolve today and how, 01:49 you know, God has brought your personal life, 01:51 your academic life, 01:52 and your professional life all together. 01:55 So let's talk about the journey of Dr. Jeffrey Porter. 01:59 You know, you did not... 02:01 You weren't born and raised in Michigan. 02:03 Tell us of your journey? 02:04 So I'm a New Jersey native, 02:06 I was born in Summit, New Jersey. 02:08 And I was raised in East Orange, 02:10 New Jersey for a lot of my early life 02:12 and there was a lot of crime infested neighborhoods 02:15 that we lived in. 02:16 The house was beautiful. Yes. 02:17 I still remember the house. 02:19 But my parents felt that wasn't a good place 02:20 to bring up twins and so my older brother and us. 02:25 So we moved down to the suburbs 02:27 and that's where 02:28 I lived most of my life down in place called Franklin 02:30 in New Jersey. 02:32 So how did, you know, you get involved with sports 02:36 because your father, he was an attorney? 02:38 Correct. 02:39 So was it something that he encouraged his sons 02:43 to get involved in 02:44 or was he more into the academics? 02:47 Dad was both. 02:48 He was a guy who stressed academics 02:51 pretty significantly in our household, 02:53 but my brother and I... 02:55 So again, I have a twin brother and we were very active, 02:57 and we were very active kids. 02:59 And so we imitated everything we saw on TV, 03:01 whether it's from like TV shows or movies 03:04 and that's something that my parents got tired 03:06 of breaking down the house. 03:08 And so we looked for activities 03:10 that we can get involved and the first thing 03:11 we started looking out at was flag football. 03:13 And that was the first athletic competition 03:16 that I participated in. 03:17 What grade was that? 03:18 It might have been... 03:20 Elementary or middle school? 03:21 Yeah, that was elementary school. 03:23 Okay, all right. 03:24 And that's something I gravitated towards 03:25 'cause my brother and I, we could hit people. 03:27 Now, it was flag football, 03:28 but we didn't quite grab the concept 03:29 and so football was our first love. 03:31 And that's something that my dad was our coach 03:33 for couple of years and watched us progress 03:36 and so he was that main advocate for us 03:38 getting out of the house and spending our energy 03:40 so we didn't break his house down. 03:41 I understand. 03:43 How did mom feel about the flag football, 03:45 you know, 'cause mothers tend to be, 03:46 "Don't break anything, you know, be careful." 03:48 Well, mom realized that it was either us 03:51 going to break each other in the house 03:52 or outside on the field. 03:53 So she encouraged us to get out of the house, 03:57 and to be with our friends and to, 03:59 you know, play and have fun, be kids. 04:00 All right. 04:01 So now, you're journeying 04:03 into middle school, high school. 04:05 How did you get to Michigan? 04:07 Well, I got to Michigan on a track scholarship 04:10 which is pretty entertaining. 04:11 Because all through elementary school, 04:14 middle school and early part of high school, 04:15 I don't like running track. 04:17 You didn't like it? I did not like running. 04:18 Wow. I wasn't fast. 04:20 Wow. And I wasn't good at it. 04:22 So I stayed away from something that I wasn't good at. 04:24 And so I tried every other event on the track, 04:26 I tried javelin, pole vault, the long jump, 04:28 things like that. 04:30 Because I'd do anything to not run 04:31 'cause I did not want to run, I just wanted to play football. 04:34 And then one day, 04:35 as more stories tend to incorporate, 04:39 I saw a lady on my track team. 04:41 Yes. 04:42 And she did an event and she ran over this barrier. 04:44 I said, man that looks cool. 04:46 So I go over there 04:47 as a young arrogant young high schooler 04:51 and I started talking trash, that's what we do. 04:53 And we came up with a bet and she said, 04:55 I won't be able to clear 04:56 the boy's height for the barrier. 04:58 I said, okay. 04:59 So I ran as fast as I could 05:01 and I was just thinking to myself, 05:02 I'm going to land flat on my face. 05:03 Yes. 05:05 And I got on the other side. Really? 05:06 And my coach happened to see at the same moment and he said, 05:09 "Well, looks like we have a hurdler now." 05:10 And you did. 05:12 And so my first competition, 05:14 I ended up tearing a muscle in my hip, 05:16 my first year in high school. 05:18 So that ended my freshman year. 05:20 That was it? 05:21 And then I spent the rest of the summer. 05:23 So hurdling is addicted, 05:26 it's because you want to get better. 05:27 And so I took hurdles home with me, 05:29 I started practicing in the morning in my free time, 05:31 I kept getting better, and better, and better. 05:33 And so I end up going to Michigan 05:35 as I become really good 05:36 at my sophomore junior-senior years. 05:38 Yes. And Michigan came calling? 05:40 And Michigan came, they scouted you out... 05:42 They scouted me out, 05:43 they came to my house, met my parents. 05:45 I went out to Michigan for a visit 05:46 and they offered me a full scholarship. 05:48 A full scholarship? Yes, madam. 05:50 Now, as you were looking at your life, 05:54 you know, academics. 05:56 What did you want to study? 05:57 You wanted to pursue and earn your degree. 06:00 I wanted to be an athletic trainer. 06:01 An athletic trainer? Yeah. 06:03 I wanted to be athletic trainer 06:04 because I had spent a lot of time 06:06 with my high school athletic trainer 06:07 and I thought his job was really cool. 06:08 Okay. 06:10 But when I got to Michigan, it became abundantly clear 06:12 that the athletic training degree program 06:14 wouldn't be conducive for track and field. 06:17 And so that schedule 06:18 and my tracking practice schedule didn't operate. 06:20 So I needed to find something else 06:21 I was interested in. 06:23 What was the ratio with African-Americans, 06:25 European-Americans, Asians, Americans, 06:28 what was the ratio when you came to Michigan? 06:30 There were 7% African-Americans total 06:33 at the university, 06:35 68% white and the rest were others. 06:37 Is that right? 06:39 So now, you are on the team. 06:42 What was your fastest time? 06:44 In high school, my fastest time 06:46 at the 39 inch barriers was 13.84. 06:49 And the reason I've mentioned that is 06:50 'cause when you get to the college height, 06:52 they are 42 inch barriers. 06:54 And to give you some perspective, 06:55 that's three feet, six inches. 06:57 My goodness. 06:58 I had opportunity to go and observe you on YouTube 07:01 and I mean, my goodness, you are fast and those... 07:05 I couldn't do that. 07:06 I mean, you know, 07:07 they have different heights for women. 07:09 Yes, madam. All right. 07:10 And we're going to talk about a special woman in your life... 07:13 And later on during the broadcast. 07:14 Now, let me ask you this. 07:16 Your degrees are in what, your bachelor's, your master's, 07:19 you recently earned your Ph.D. 07:20 Yes, madam. 07:22 My bachelor's is in kinesiology 07:23 with the focus on support management. 07:24 My master's is in higher education 07:26 with the focus on student affairs. 07:28 And my Ph.D. 07:29 is in educational leadership. 07:31 Let's talk about the misconception, 07:33 when you see African-American athletes, 07:36 your doctoral dissertation, what was the title of it? 07:39 It was between the classroom and the field, 07:41 an examination of the experiences 07:43 of black male football student athletes. 07:45 So, Jeff, why that field of study? 07:47 Well, there are a lot of misconceptions 07:49 about African-American men 07:50 as it relates to college sports. 07:52 Typically, media will tell you that we're uneducated, 07:56 we're not interested in anything else 07:58 but playing professional sports. 08:00 When we're quiet in the classroom, 08:02 that's because we're unengaged, we're sleeping in class, 08:05 we're not paying attention to the faculty members. 08:07 All these negative perceptions about African-American men 08:10 that play college sports. 08:12 Now you said that a lot of people 08:14 thought you played football. 08:16 Correct. 08:17 And you were on the track team...? 08:19 Correct. 08:20 Because you were African-American? 08:21 And so what happened many times after games, 08:24 walking around campus, 08:26 people would come up to me and literally with posters 08:28 or helmets or other paraphernalia, 08:30 ask me to sign assuming that 08:32 because I was African-American male 08:33 that I automatically played football. 08:36 No one even gave track and field a thought. 08:39 How did that make you feel that, 08:41 you know, that misconception 08:43 even in your beginning stages of your academics 08:46 was already there and years before? 08:49 Well, initially it didn't bug me 08:51 and then but one incident happened... 08:54 After a big game, 08:55 someone came to me and asked me for another autograph 08:57 'cause they called me somebody else's name. 09:00 And then I started thinking about more and more about 09:02 how was this okay, 09:04 how are these stereotypes allowed 09:05 to persist at an institution of higher learning. 09:09 And so that is the time and the place 09:12 that began to really open my eyes 09:14 for what is going on at this level. 09:18 It is disturbing to me, 09:20 how many African-Americans 09:22 do not complete their undergraduate degree 09:27 in the athletic department. 09:29 Correct. 09:30 How did you get through the program? 09:34 Did you have support? Did you have mentors? 09:37 What happened that you were able to graduate? 09:39 Well, similar to what I found in my dissertation, 09:42 the things that mattered to me wasn't exactly the class work. 09:47 It wasn't exactly 09:48 the track and field practice as a competition. 09:51 It was those people 09:53 who actually believe that I could actually graduate. 09:56 My father, my mother, my coach, 09:59 I had mentors on campus 10:00 who were there to ensure that I did graduate. 10:04 They wanted to figure out what the next step was, 10:07 how could I progress. 10:09 And because I used to meet with these people 10:10 on a very consistent basis whether it's weekly or monthly, 10:14 the question wasn't even about tracking, 10:16 it's how are you doing, how is class going, 10:17 what's next for you. 10:19 Holding you accountable. 10:20 Holding me accountable at every step of the way, 10:21 and I told my father going up to Michigan 10:24 that I was going to get him a degree. 10:27 And my mother said in her way, 10:31 "I don't have money to pay 10:32 for out of state tuition for the university. 10:34 So you need to figure out how to graduate." 10:37 And so those are kind of things that mattered to me, 10:39 and so as I became older 10:41 I was more aware of the people around me, 10:45 and the next step I was going to take. 10:48 You're very articulate 10:49 and able to engage and communicate. 10:53 You don't see that across the board 10:54 with a lot of African-American athletes. 10:57 This started in your home training? 10:59 Correct. 11:00 My father was an attorney as you mentioned. 11:02 Speaking well was something that was mandated in my house, 11:05 writing well, something that was mandated in my house. 11:08 And I couldn't talk like my neighborhood friends, 11:10 my father would not allow that. 11:12 And I had to learn from a very early age 11:15 that I was different and many times 11:16 it would be considered talking white. 11:19 Because I was articulate 11:20 because folks didn't hear a black male speak this well. 11:25 In my first class at the university, 11:28 when I got up and spoke, 11:29 everyone was shocked and surprised. 11:31 And I was thinking this is normal. 11:33 It's normal for you. But apparently, it wasn't. 11:36 So this was something that started 11:38 at a very early age, 11:39 my parents instilled that in me. 11:41 And so that's why 11:43 I've been able to be articulate throughout my entire life. 11:45 But also, entering college being able to read and write. 11:49 Let's talk about that, how many athletes, 11:52 African-Americans come into college 11:55 and they can't read or write. 11:57 There are... 11:58 Well, let me clear a misconception, 12:00 there is a smaller segment of those 12:03 who are functionally illiterate. 12:05 There is a larger section that do not read or write 12:08 at their grade level. 12:10 Really? 12:11 And that's the larger section that you'll see 12:14 that a lot of these student athletes 12:16 that come into the universities nationwide 12:17 do not read at a specific reading level. 12:21 And are they prepared for academia? 12:23 A lot of them aren't, 12:24 and they will tell you they aren't. 12:26 But the difference is that when you talk to those people 12:28 who are not prepared for academia 12:30 and that do graduate, 12:32 what's the difference 12:33 is because when they got into university, 12:34 they realized, A, 12:36 I'm unprepared 12:37 and that's the first realization 12:38 that you can come with. 12:40 I'm not ready. 12:41 Because I'm not ready, 12:42 I'm going to seek out all the help 12:44 that I can to help me get to the end point 12:45 and that's what a lot of them do. 12:47 Those who actually are very successful, 12:48 seek out those people who care about them, 12:49 that's first thing. 12:51 And the second thing, 12:52 are able to help them get through their classes. 12:54 And it's amazing as you see 12:56 the development of these student athletes 12:57 when they come in, and to when they graduate, 12:59 and you see, it's phenomenal, it's a world apart. 13:03 I notice also that a lot of athletes, 13:05 they get drafted. 13:07 And they don't complete their degrees, 13:10 but some return, 13:12 and they complete their degree, 13:14 and I think that is commendable. 13:17 I think that is a personal gratification 13:21 and now that they are older, 13:22 they realize they have to have something else 13:24 to fall back on. 13:26 Getting a degree in business, 13:28 being able to take care of their families in the long, 13:32 you know, haul. 13:34 Let's talk about your personal life 13:35 for a minute. 13:37 How you have balanced it because you met your wife, 13:41 tell us about your wife and who she is? 13:43 My wife is a talented beautiful woman, 13:48 a Nigerian descent, 13:50 British ancestry as well, 13:52 and she is the marvelous individual. 13:55 I met her 13:56 when she was a freshman on the track team. 13:59 I happened to be a sophomore. 14:00 I was a 19-year-old sophomore 14:02 and Tiffany was a 17-year-old freshman. 14:04 Yes. 14:05 And we had a connection, 14:07 probably about half way through the year. 14:08 All right. 14:10 And say half way through because when she first met me 14:13 and we started first interacting, 14:14 she didn't like me that much. 14:16 She thought I was arrogant, pompous, loud, 14:18 I cussed a lot, I drove fast. 14:21 She didn't like anything about me. 14:22 And I'm so happy that, that has come full circle, 14:24 you know, when I met you, 14:26 you had a major issue with profanity. 14:28 But we all have to grow, all right? 14:29 Yes, we do. 14:31 And you have truly evolved with that, all right. 14:33 And she didn't like me. 14:34 And her coaches used to joke all the time 14:36 that watch you're going to marry that boy. 14:38 And then somewhere around the spring time, 14:40 we started, you know, really talking and then I think 14:42 we started dating around that time as well. 14:45 And, you know, we progressed as a couple, 14:48 we had our rollercoaster ride like any couple. 14:50 And then we ended up getting married in 2011. 14:52 And Tiffany Porter is also a two time Olympian. 14:55 She is also a two time Olympian 14:57 and she is one the most fierce competitors 14:58 I've ever raised. 15:00 Oh, my goodness, she is unbelievable. 15:02 Now here you are, 15:04 you know, running for major Adidas, 15:08 no Nike and your wife runs for Adidas. 15:09 But she left the United States and went over to British? 15:15 Correct. 15:16 Okay, so how did that make you feel 15:18 when she 15:20 kind of admires you used to tease her lot of time, 15:21 but she abandoned the United States. 15:23 Well, funny enough. 15:24 When I met her, 15:26 first of all I didn't know she was Nigerian. 15:27 Okay. 15:28 I didn't know that her mother was born in Britain. 15:30 Really? 15:31 It wasn't until after the 2008 Olympic trials 15:33 that I found out that she was in fact British. 15:37 And then when you find out all the support 15:38 that the European athletes get and the British athletes get, 15:42 I was like, you need to go run for the British team. 15:46 Really? So you encouraged her? Yes. 15:47 Because it's more financially feasible 15:50 and especially in this professional realm 15:51 of track and field. 15:53 All right. 15:54 Her goal is to become that gold medal? 15:58 Yes, yes. She wants that gold medal. 15:59 She wants that gold medal. 16:00 You know, now you are, you are her coach now. 16:02 Yes. And you recently retired. 16:04 Yes, madam. 16:05 And so you're preparing now for the World Champions. 16:09 Yes, I'm getting her ready for the World Championships, 16:11 they would be London on August 5th through the 12th. 16:15 How did you or how are you balancing, 16:18 you know, your professional life 16:20 with marriage? 16:21 You know, because when I met you, 16:23 there were some concerns. 16:24 How are you now balancing things? 16:27 Well, part of it is because we've learned 16:30 and you taught me how to compartmentalize things. 16:33 You know, when work ends, work ends, 16:35 I'm not trying to take work home. 16:38 You know, when track ends, track ends, 16:40 and I can't take track home. 16:41 Because the things I say to my wife on the track, 16:44 I would never say it to her at home. 16:46 That's right. 16:47 And we have to work together to make sure 16:50 that those things don't bleed over. 16:51 Because when practice is over and I call it a day, 16:54 I can go back to being husband Jeff. 16:55 That's right. 16:57 Because Coach Jeff is very hard on my athlete. 16:59 Yes. 17:00 But husband Jeff has to be much more nurturing, 17:02 much more attentive to her needs. 17:05 And so it's been very challenging dealing with, 17:07 you know, at that point in school, 17:09 and then running. 17:10 But now dealing with, 17:12 you know, work and then coaching. 17:13 Yes. It's still challenging. 17:15 Because she also has earned her doctorate in...? 17:19 Oh, yes, in pharmacy. In pharmacy. 17:20 So she is a doctorate in pharmacy. 17:21 So I just married a very smart woman, 17:24 who doesn't take any nonsense especially from her husband. 17:27 Yeah. Except on the track. 17:28 Yeah, on the track. 17:30 So do you cook and wash and change the linen, 17:33 do you do all of that? 17:35 So I do none of the cooking. 17:36 You don't want me to do the cooking. 17:38 No cooking. I do barbecuing. 17:39 You do barbecuing. And baking. 17:40 And baking. And I do the dishes. 17:42 All right. Laundry? 17:44 I used to do the laundry. Why? 17:46 Did you change the whites to pink, 17:48 something like that? 17:49 Yes. Something happened. 17:51 Something happened and so I don't do the laundry. 17:52 You don't do the laundry anymore. 17:54 But again, so she does a lot of the laundry 17:56 but I still help her, 17:58 especially if she is slaving 17:59 over a hot stove as the expression goes. 18:03 I come home, then I do the dishes for her. 18:05 So we kind of back and trade off. 18:07 But, you know, she is gone a lot, 18:09 you were gone a lot. 18:11 You all were, you know, talking by phone, 18:15 it would be weeks and there have been months 18:18 that you've gone without seeing your wife. 18:21 And it's very difficult, how did you get through that? 18:24 One of the beauties of being a veteran 18:27 in track and field 18:29 is that I'm able to now coordinate my schedule 18:32 with hers a little bit more. 18:33 So we used to meet up at places around the world which was fun. 18:38 We used to meet up in the Czech Republic, 18:40 some places in Monaco, we used to meet up in Germany, 18:43 and a variety of different folk, 18:44 London is another place 18:45 where we could actually have the meets pay for our travel, 18:48 or we could stay together, be there for a period of days. 18:51 And so we tried to negotiate our travel, 18:54 where I would go somewhere 18:56 and then she would come with me. 18:58 You are proud of your wife. Very much so. 19:00 And you love your wife. Very much so. 19:02 What's next for you and Tiffany? 19:04 Well, after London, 19:07 where the conversation of starting a family comes up. 19:10 That's one of the things 19:11 that we're going to be talking about. 19:13 Tiffany is a strong willed individual. 19:17 So she wants to work in the pharmacy 19:19 and we are looking at opportunities 19:21 for investments here and there. 19:23 I'm going to start writing a book. 19:24 Yes, yes. 19:25 So there's a lot of things going on right now, 19:27 we're just trying to figure out 19:28 how to piece this all together into a nice beautiful puzzle. 19:33 But I want people to know 19:35 that it has not all been easy for Jeff? 19:36 No. 19:38 During a very special time for you, 19:40 you lost your father? 19:41 Correct. Let's talk about that? 19:43 I was... 19:44 It was 2006, 19:45 my father was diagnosed with cancer in December, 2016, 19:48 excuse me, no, 2006, he was diagnosed with cancer. 19:52 My mother told me that it was stage four 19:55 and at that I didn't know what stage four meant. 19:58 And so dad used to travel with us 20:01 and he went to the NCA Championship 20:02 with me in 2007. 20:05 And I won that championship, 20:07 but dad progressively got worse. 20:09 Dad got lung cancer 20:11 because he was in New York on 9/11. 20:14 And all those fumes and a lot of things 20:16 that first responded to him, he dealt with. 20:18 Really? 20:19 So that's why the cancer spread so fast, so rapidly. 20:22 By the time I saw him, 20:23 the last time I saw my father was in June of 2008, 20:29 he came to the Olympian trials. 20:30 Yes. 20:32 And he was the biggest fan that I have. 20:34 I didn't realize how sick he was 20:35 'cause I saw him with an oxygen tank, 20:37 he had lost 50 pounds at that point. 20:39 Was that in London? 20:40 No, the Olympic trials were in Oregon. 20:41 It was in Oregon and he was there. 20:43 He came there and his oxygen taken off 20:45 as a proud father to watch his son do something 20:48 that no one thought we could do. 20:49 And I didn't went that far, 20:51 I made it around to the second round. 20:54 But he was still there and he was still proud 20:55 and that was the last time I saw him 20:57 because he passed August 13th of 2008. 21:01 I'm so sorry. 21:02 And that was very difficult for you 21:04 and the support that he gave you 21:07 and now your mother is in New Jersey, 21:10 you have siblings who are all successful. 21:13 You're a proud uncle of several children. 21:16 Several nieces and nephews. 21:18 I think that one of the major concerns 21:22 I have when I first met you, that God was not a factor. 21:27 You knew, you talked about it, even we began to pray. 21:30 But as you evolved, you would say to me, 21:32 "Dr. Kim, we didn't pray." 21:35 And it touched my heart. 21:37 How important now is God in your life? 21:40 And I'm not saying because of Christian counseling 21:42 and you met me, it was all God. 21:44 It's God who receives all the glory. 21:47 The impact of God in my life is always retrospect. 21:51 You never realize 21:53 why you're going through something 21:54 that God is there. 21:55 But if you look back, 21:57 you realize that He had never left you. 21:58 Yes. 21:59 You know, God is... 22:01 Christianity and being in church 22:02 has always been a part of my life. 22:04 But it's not until life hits you real hard 22:05 that you start to realize 22:06 that you're not strong enough to hold on to this. 22:09 And, you know, after my father died, 22:11 it was too much at that point of my life. 22:13 Yes. 22:15 You know, trying to deal with my mother, 22:16 make sure she was okay, and then moving, 22:17 and I'm trying to figure out this track and field thing, 22:20 starting to go to graduate school, 22:21 and actually trying to think about getting married, 22:24 and getting married, 22:25 and it was just a lot of emotional baggage for me 22:28 to deal with. 22:29 And when I look back on it now, 22:31 the fact, the thing that really helped me 22:34 was that peace. 22:36 The peace that God gives you 22:37 because I don't look at me saying, 22:42 I've done xyz. 22:44 I looked at me as someone who was a mess, 22:48 I had a loathe dream 22:50 and God saw fit in His divine plan 22:52 to bring me through to the end. 22:54 No one would have thought sitting here today 22:57 that I would be a two time Olympian with a Ph.D. 22:59 That was not my plan. 23:00 Yes. 23:02 But it was in God's plan. Yes, yes. 23:04 And so when I look back on how I have been able 23:08 to stand here so long, 23:11 you know, that Christian song all you got 23:13 to do is just stand. 23:14 That's all I've done in my life 23:16 is persevere and stand. 23:17 Yes. 23:18 And those are the kind of things 23:20 that had mattered, 23:21 and my relationship with God has gone so much better now. 23:23 Yes. 23:24 I'm still a work in progress. Yes, you are. 23:25 We all are, we all are. Only God is perfect. 23:27 But it has been a marvelous journey to see 23:32 where I've come from, where I am, and where... 23:36 That journey if I look back on it, 23:38 only prepared for what's going next. 23:40 I surprised you when you defended. 23:42 Yes, you did. 23:43 Your doctoral dissertation, 23:45 your wife called me and told me that you were defending 23:47 because I don't know what happened 23:49 that I didn't get a call from you 23:51 but that's okay. 23:52 And I walked in and your face was like, 23:56 you know, my goodness, you are here. 23:58 I had to be there 24:00 because I remember the day you started, 24:03 I remember some of those difficult classes, 24:06 those papers, we pray together. 24:09 I mean, I was just asking God 24:12 to give you the wisdom and the words, 24:13 and being an African-American male, 24:17 and the challenges that go with that 24:19 and to see you endure the test, the Bible says, 24:22 "The race is not given to the swift nor the strong, 24:25 but to those who endure." 24:27 And I remember saying to you that Hebrews 11:1, 24:30 "Faith is a substance of things hope for, 24:33 the evidence of things not seen." 24:35 But in Hebrews 11:6, 24:37 "Without faith it's impossible to please Him 24:39 and He is a rewarder to them that diligently seek Him." 24:43 And that is all I wanted to share with you, 24:45 Jeff, through this journey, being your doctor, 24:48 being your therapist, to give your life to Christ, 24:51 and God will do the rest. 24:53 And as I look at you today, 24:54 you know, I don't want to start crying. 24:56 I'm just so happy in the Lord that, 24:59 you know, you want to be saved, 25:00 you want to see Jesus when He comes, 25:02 you want to be able to thank Him personally 25:06 for all that He has done for you. 25:08 I just want to encourage you, it's not over. 25:11 No. 25:12 You'll continue to live to be well, 25:15 and as long as you stay on the right path. 25:17 You don't smoke? No. 25:19 You don't drink? No. 25:20 You don't do anything to harm your body? 25:22 No. 25:23 You know, you're not a vegan though? 25:25 No. 25:27 I like the occasional meat every so often. 25:30 You know, we all are work in progress. 25:32 Okay. 25:34 But I can appreciate you 25:36 taking care of yourself and your wife. 25:40 I know that there are more things to come. 25:43 We are still in the process of our counseling. 25:46 You know, you have not let me go yet 25:48 and I haven't let go off you yet. 25:49 No. 25:50 Because there are still some things 25:52 as a young man 25:53 that I want to see you accomplish. 25:55 And I like to be a part of that journey, 25:57 the second half of that journey, 25:59 even writing and completing the book. 26:02 Closing remarks, 26:03 what would you say to someone 26:04 who is now pursuing academics and African-American athletes. 26:10 You have about 30 seconds, what would you say? 26:14 Persevere. 26:15 This journey is hard. Yes. 26:17 You got to this point 26:19 because you are the best at doing something. 26:21 Now to persist is going to be 26:24 the hardest test you'll ever have to deal with. 26:27 But if you persist long enough, 26:30 there is a reward on the end of the other side. 26:33 At the end of that journey there is a reward. 26:35 And I can tell you, 26:37 I've been the only black person in class 26:39 for a long, long time. 26:41 Long time. 26:42 And it hasn't always been easy 26:44 and people will always test you. 26:45 Yes. 26:46 But if you persist through the test, 26:49 you'll come out victorious on the other side. 26:51 Oh, wow. 26:52 You know, you just encouraged me, 26:54 you know, losing my husband on the other side 26:59 and being able to stay encouraged 27:00 and I believe 27:01 that we can encourage one another. 27:03 I want to thank you, Dr. Porter. 27:05 Dr. Porter, can I say that again? 27:08 I still haven't got used to it yet. 27:09 You haven't got used to that. 27:10 Well, I'm so proud of you 27:12 and I appreciate you and I love you, 27:15 and continue to live to be well. 27:17 I want to thank all of you for being with us today 27:19 on Live to be Well. 27:20 And let's look carefully 27:22 at the misconceptions of sports and academics. 27:25 Think closely, look at your own situation 27:29 with your own sons and daughters. 27:31 And take a good look, ask questions, 27:33 don't just accept anything, 27:35 make sure that they live to be well 27:38 because they are your children. 27:39 God bless. |
Revised 2018-01-18