Sydney Passley- Harris '22 Recruiting Profile

Hello, my name is Sydney Passley-Harris and I am a Junior at Brookline High School.  My hobbies used to consist of all sports, until I watched the Summer Olympics in 2012 and fell in love with the sport. At the age of eight, I sat, watching my father and my uncles elated about the Olympic track and field games. My initial thoughts were , “Why would you waste all of your energy? Who wants to run for fun? Who has the time and patience to jump into sand pits and over objects that are placed in the middle of a track?” However, when I saw the excitement light up across their faces as Usain Bolt's foot crossed the finish line first, I knew that I wanted that same energy to be shown towards me. In all honesty, I had never really run before, so when I created this image of winning a race in my head, I told myself that this for sure was a crazy dream; but my dream wasn’t crazy enough for me to not do it. From then on every morning I woke up, put my sneakers on and went outside to run. To jump. And to create the lifestyle that I live today. 

Running track and field wasn’t always and is not just a hobby of mine and if it weren’t for these amazing, life changing experiences, I wouldn’t be the person that I am today. Watching the Olympics is the first memory that I have of loving the sport. Running that race is the first memory of great determination, technique and the energy that was put into it. I believe that if I never watched the Summer Olympics, I wouldn’t be running competitively like I am today. That day, I learned that I love the hard work physically and mentally that goes into track and field. Track helped me form the characteristics of determination, confidence and leaving room for improvement that I have. Watching these races did not only show me how much love I have for the sport, but also how I could train myself for bigger and better times and jumps. I quit other activities that I did because I knew that I needed to focus on track only. I quit my four dance classes and I stopped cheering. I knew that I needed to “believe in something even if it [meant] sacrificing everything.” 

Outside of track, I am very involved in Social Justice. Up until this past year, I hadn't really be involved in Social Justice, but I had always wanted to learn more about how I can immerse myself in social and political problems. I've realized that as I get older, issues revolved around topics such as climate change, abortion laws, police brutality, ect. have become more relevant to my generation. If it wasn’t for my race, gender, education background, etc, I wouldn’t feel the need to be as involved in Social Justice as much as I am. We tend to resolve only current problems instead of recognizing that  we need to get to the root of it. It’s almost the same as putting a small bandaid on a cut that needs stitches and I want to be able to help the oppressed and give them the equality they deserve. While Social Justice is very important to me, I would love to pursue in either engineering or law; (Completely different fields, I know!) All in all, I hope to continue running track in college while continuing my academic journey and staying involved in Social Justice!