Hello and welcome back to Let's Talk Choctaws with Meeby and Kienna!

This week we had the pleasure of sitting down with Michael Washington Jr., a senior defensive line football player from Collinsville, Mississippi. We were impressed with his warm and kind spirit, as well as his commitment to our school and community. Michael is known on campus as the President of the Student Government Association, a leader for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, a Presidential Ambassador, as well as a Multicultural Students Association member.

In case that list of achievements wasn't enough to garner your respect, Michael's schedule begins with an 8:00 am class every weekday. He spends his afternoons working in Dr. Thompson's office as a student assistant before heading to football practice. After practice and dinner, he spends the rest of his time studying. As a mathematics major, the majority of his classes have been in mathematics and education. "I kind of figured out in high school that I knew I wanted to coach, so what's the easiest way to get there? I could major in math to be a teacher and then just go down the road to get my masters in Athletic Administration," Michael said. After that, he plans to earn his PhD in special educational leadership with an emphasis in higher education. Michael discovered his love for teaching while tutoring other athletes. He enjoys the challenge of adapting to different learning styles; and he looks forward to student teaching next semester. 

From a very young age, Michael played baseball, basketball and soccer. When he got to the third grade, soccer and football season overlapped, he had to choose between the two."I remember thinking, in football, I get to hit people for no reason, so let's do football!" Michael said. "Basketball was my first love. But the more I played football, the more I fell in love with it, and realized hey, I'm really good at this." His dad had a big impact on him starting football and continuing on with it. "At the end of the day, I knew he was the reason that I played. He was the reason that I kept playing and he's part of the reason why I'm still playing today."

The daily regimen for the football team has looked quite different this year- especially because there are not any games scheduled for this fall. However, the team is still continuing to train to maintain conditioning in the hopes that there could be a possible spring season. "[The staff] has been really good about following guidelines, making sure that everyone shows their green screens and has their temperature taken," he said. The team has skill development training for an hour on Mondays and Wednesdays, and then on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, the team lifts weights. To safely train, the team splits into three different groups and lifts for thirty minutes each. "The best part about being on the team is the energy of my teammates, especially my defensive teammates," Michael said. He assured us that he loves the offense and special teams, too, but the way that Coach Gilbert holds the defense to a very high standard "lights a fire under us," Michael said, "in practice, and everywhere we go." The strength coach has scheduled the defense to be the last group in the weight room- after they've already been working outside for an hour beforehand. The coach said that he designed it that way because he didn't know if the other two groups could come into the weight room with the same energy that the defense has. "That's smart. But also, that's like, really evil," Michael joked. 

There's another team that Michael has found a huge amount of support and encouragement from- the orientation leaders. "When I first got to MC, I didn't know who my people were, I was involved in a lot of different things. But when I became an orientation leader, I found them. Being an orientation leader is probably the best decision I have made since coming to MC. That group of 35 people is just so special," he said. The team planned carefully for this fall's orientation, but like so many things this year, their plans were changed due to the pandemic. "If there was one thing I could get back because of COVID," Michael said, "It would definitely be orientation." Through directing orientation leaders, he was able to spread the gospel and bring people together. "When I was in high school, I did a lot of motivational and devotional speeches, and nobody at MC knew that. Dr. Ambrose asked me to do devotions for orientation. I did the first one and they loved it. When I did the second one, I realized that the orientation team was a family," he recounted, "By the end of the day, we're all circling around each other crying and literally forgot that the room is filled with freshmen that need orientation leaders and I'm like, this is my family."

Michael is a senior this year, and we had a chance to talk with him about some of his favorite football moments. His favorite Choctaw victory is last year's win over Delta State to capture the Heritage Bell Classic trophy. If you follow the Choctaws, you may remember that last year during the third game of the season against North Greenville, Michael tore his ACL, PCL, and MCL. He missed one game when he had surgery two weeks later, but after that, he was on the sidelines cheering on the Choctaws for the rest of the season- home and away. "So, I'm out there on the field for the Delta State game, and I thought, there's just something different today," Michael reminisced. "The weather was just right, the fans were loud, and I just had that feeling. When I tell you that was the best feeling of my life on a football field- The way those guys played, well, you know the locker room was pretty crazy that night," Michael said. The way that Michael talked about this win brought back lots of good memories for us, too, and we agreed that it's a game that none of us will be forgetting anytime soon. If anything could sweeten the deal of having to postpone this year's football season, it's a few more months with the Heritage Bell trophy safely in the Choctaw's possession.

Michael Washington is one of those familiar faces on campus who many people recognize, and we were grateful to have the opportunity to get to know him a little better. "It's important that relationships are still being built right now, because things feel crazy. Some people think since I'm the SGA president I have it all worked out, but I'm still trying to figure things out just like everyone else on campus," he said. Despite the unexpected changes surrounding this semester, Michael continues to have a positive attitude and lifts others up around him, as well. We look forward to seeing how he will continue to shine through his senior year, and we know that he will make an excellent teacher and coach someday soon.
 

Thank you for reading, and be sure to join us next Monday for our third guest, Moriah Hurst.