By Ken Sury
Deja defies stereotypes. The self-admitted nerdy bookworm loves video games, but also is outgoing and an impressive athlete.
At the Texas Christian Athletic Fellowship state track and field championships in April, the freshman had a big medal haul, winning gold in the 100- and 200-meter dashes, and as a member of the 800-meter relay team. She also earned a silver medal in the long jump and came in third in the high jump.
As a day student at the University of Texas Charter School on the MCH Waco campus, Deja is a member of the Student Council, adding those activities to her already busy schedule with athletics and cheer.
“I love Student Council,” she said. “I got to take yearbook photos, and we’re working on the yearbook right now. We do homeroom challenges, and we’ve done videos like recognizing Black History Month athletes and people during morning announcements, did themes for STAAR Week, and public service-type videos.”
She also is a regular at the Greater Waco Family YMCA, usually after it opens at 5 a.m. on weekdays. The facility isn’t far from her home, where she lives with her grandmother, an aunt and two stepbrothers, so it’s easy to hop on her bike to get there, she said.
Day student case manager Allyson Welch describes Deja as “super sweet and kind-hearted, even though life has been tough sometimes. She continues to hold herself to a higher standard than her circumstances. I love that about her.”
Her love of reading is obvious, Welch said.
“Deja’s always reading,” she said. “She always has a book and she’s always leaving it everywhere.”
Deja says her favorite genre of books to read are fantasy, but at the time of the interview she was reading a novel about a soldier who honors his fallen friend’s request to care for his sister, a single mother with twins.
“It’s kind of sad,” Deja said of the book. Sadness, though, rarely is part of Deja’s personality, Welch said.
“I would say Deja is very goofy, in a good way,” Welch said, noting Deja’s fashion sense from thrift store shopping. Deja is looking forward to attending her first quinceañera.
“She’s also very hard-working,” Welch added. “If Deja is here during the summer, she always goes and volunteers. Last year she got a job at Shepherd’s Heart (food pantry). She was going to the pantry and working hard, and they saw that, so they offered her a job. She was the only one that got a job out of our kids who were going there.
“Deja was out there in the heat of summer, helping with their mobile distributions. She was talking to the families and giving them food.”
Amy Grisham, director of school support, describes Deja as “outgoing, but she doesn’t give herself enough credit for being as resilient as she is. She has faced some tough, tough challenges in her young life and she is very resilient.”
Deja’s love of video games led her to start the school’s video game club, although unsurprisingly, she’s been too busy during school to enjoy it herself.
She’ll find some time to play video games at home, she said, ride her bike, and care for her 1-year-old cat Osiris. “At least that’s his name for now,” she said.
Asked to describe herself, Deja said, “Really outgoing. Funny. Inquisitive. Athletic.”
That last word is apparent with her workout ethic of early mornings at the YMCA and sometimes returning there after school. That is, when she’s not doing volleyball, cheer, basketball or track.
She hopes to play basketball in college and earn a degree in sports medicine.
Clarence Degrate, day student program coordinator, said the sky is the limit for Deja.
“She doesn’t allow anything to stop her,” he said. “She keeps focused on what her goals are. And she’s one of the most pleasant kids to interact with.”
Grisham agreed. “Deja takes feedback well and she learns to grow from that feedback,” she said. “She’s grown in how she takes that feedback and she does make active change.”
Welch said Deja’s determination is impressive for a 15-year-old.
“Deja goes 100 percent at everything,” she added. “Not just in athletics, but in the classroom, too. Her academics matter to her. I think she’s grown emotionally, too. She’s letting us see that vulnerable side of her a little more.”
At least when her face isn’t obscured by a book.
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