Delayed but not denied. That is the theme of this episode and the journey of our next guest, Diana Effiom. Just recently, Effiom became the Howard school record holder in the Hammer and Conference champion. Diana is a Biology major, chem minor from Dallas, Texas. Growing up, she found it challenging to navigate balancing her identity with her surroundings. Many times she was the sole black person in school settings and athletic settings alike. Effiom maintained a straight A average while dedicating lots of time to Theater, which helped her find her voice. It would take some time before she would find Track and Field, competing in Basketball and Volleyball initially. During her Junior year, things took off when she traveled to the State Championship meet. A 3rd place finish, followed by a 2nd place finish the ensuing year bookended her high school career. Effiom was content with leaving it at that, applying to schools for medical opportunities as opposed to athletic. A few emails later, she made it to walk-on tryouts and officially joined the Howard team. Coming to Howard was a culture shock for Effiom, as she dealt with the differing social standards and conventions. Also, “people from up North are rude”. Her Freshman campaign was promising, missing the school record by inches in the weight throw(she now owns the record). She qualified for the conference championships in both weight and hammer, although she did not compete to her liking. During her Sophomore year, she took a large credit load as well as struggled with paying for school. She openly discusses the difficulties of doing so much with so little assistance. She broke and extended the school record in the weight throw in each of her first 3 meets. An incredibly strong season from Effiom was just missing the cherry on top, of a top conference performance. Here, she was insightful about the struggles of comparing herself to her competitors and not being able to chase redemption that Spring. Due to Covid-19, the Spring never came. But, Effiom was eventually on scholarship and received the call to compete again that November. A rollercoaster in and of itself, she returned determined and hungrier than ever. Effiom stayed atop the conference throughout the season, going into the championships seeded 3rd. She told herself not to overthink, and to trust her technique which she had spent the last few weeks fine tuning. Although seeded 3rd, it would take a big performance to reach gold. And she delivered. In the 3rd round, she broke the 50 meter plane, moving into 1st place and shattering the school record. From there, nobody was able to catch Effiom, as she claimed her spot on the top of the podium. She’ll return this Fall as a Senior, hoping to defend her title and add more hardware to her name. In the future, Effiom hopes to become a physician. Recorded: 5.18.21
