Jesus "Zeus" Hernandez '17 Recruiting Profile

God, family, and sports have been the blessing to my academic success.  Since I was in the 1st grade, I knew that I would have a difficult time in my academics.  In the third grade, I finally was able to understand why academics were always difficult for me--I was placed in special education classes that allowed me to understand and work with my learning disability.  Third grade was also the monumental year that I was introduced to competitive sports. 

School has always been difficult for me because I just never could really fit in.  I had a speech impediment and my learning disability dealt with the difficulty of processing information.  Despite all of these roadblocks, my parents never let me give up.  In fact, their expectations were always raised in order to push me to be better than I thought I was.  

As I entered high school I wanted to be involved in healthy and positive activities to keep me motivated in my academics.  Since 9th grade, I have been a three-sport athlete.  I play volleyball, basketball, but my passion is football.  Ninth grade was my first year to ever play football.  I loved the sport!  At the end of the season, I was named Offensive Lineman of the Year.  In 10th grade, I continued to work hard and step up to be a leader on the line.  That year, I began transitioning from an offensive lineman to a defensive lineman.   After learning new positions and what I was capable of, I was blessed once again to be named Offensive Lineman of the Year.  Junior year was my first year on Varsity, and it was a great experience.  I worked my way up from being a third-string Junior on the defensive line, to one of the only Junior starters on the team.  I have learned so much from all my brothers on the field that I am gaining the confidence to become a fierce leader myself.  

All throughout my high school career, I feel like I needed to work harder because of my learning disability and the extra curricular activities I participated in.  My parents always told me that all of the hard work would pay off.  I am so proud to say that my grades prove that hard work does pay off.  I have maintained a 3.0-grade point average all of my three years.  I do not let my disabilities define me on the field or in the classroom.  All of the trouble I have quickly processing information goes away once I step on the field or court.  Over the years, I have gained experience, knowledge, and passion to help me better my game.  I am forever grateful for my parents for always pushing me to do my best and teaching me that academics and athletics go hand in hand.  I am a coachable and determined student-athlete.  I will always be giving 110% on and off the field.