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The first day I entered the police academy…

I found me Oct. 15th, 1985, the first day I entered the Houston Police Academy. Strange how I came to being there, but my roommate and I were both college athletes on track scholarships. I was in my junior year, my grades were suffering (because I always had to practice, practice, practice– for track meets). I knew there was no real money to be made for women in sports (at this time), so I went to my coach, Dave Bethany of Texas Southern University, and told him I was thinking of quitting the team because my grades were suffering and I needed to focus more on my education. Imagine my surprise when he told me (and I paraphrase), “Baby, I don’t want you to quit. You’re not an athlete-student. You’re a student-athlete. I can tell this is not all you’re going to do, so I want you to focus on your grades first and then about keeping your athletic scholarship. Yes, I still want to see you at practice, but now that you know what I expect of you (to graduate), do it.”