I represented the United States at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, where she won a gold medal in the 4×400 metres relay for my contributions in the preliminary round.

    I have dedicated 15 years of my life to women's track and field, and while it has been a pleasure, my passion and true fulfillment has been as a servant leader and educator in the public school system. I've been in the classroom teaching for over 10 years in Orange County, Florida. 

    In 2017 I started teaching a yoga class to my students, which slowly turned into what my kids call The Circle. The Circle became a space where students could come together and openly, safely, proactively, and without judgment talk about anything going on in their lives. 

   I had one student, in particular, going through a lot that year, Jasmine Hopps. Jasmine had recently lost her mother, been separated from her siblings, along with the hardships of school, social media, acceptance, and exclusion. I was mentoring and guiding her through this and thought journaling would be a good outlet for her. 

   After the summer Jasmin came back to school and showed me how she had continued to journal through the whole summer. I was so proud, but on a Friday night in September during Hurricane Irma I received and phone call that shattered me. Jasmine had taken her own life that night. 

    As a teacher and educator, this shook my reality, but as a human and student advocate, I could not understand how I had lost a student? How I could have lost any??

    Later that September my students came to me and asked me to turn The Circle into a club so the whole school had the opportunity and access to this type of healing. After many attempts with the school, I continued to be denied. I stayed up many nights meditating and trying to wrap my head around what I could do to make a real change and a real difference. Suicide rates around the globe continue to increase. The NCHS said in a recent data brief based on data from the National Vital Statistics System that the Death rates from suicide for children aged 10-14 years jumped by 178% from 2007 to 2017, while teenagers aged 15-19 years experienced a 76% increase over that period, with both changes reaching significance. 

Through mediation, I was guided and shown how I could use my platform to bring awareness and change for ALL of our children in the United States. It became clear to me that I had to make The Circle a nonprofit organization where any and all students can join and be HEARD. This nonprofit is All Ears. My next step was figuring out how to get our nation to listen to me. How could I get a microphone back in my face? Then it came over me. I have to race again and win again.

I have now been on this journey for 2 years. Training and preparing for the Olympic trials in the Tokyo, Japan 2021 games. I am asking you to join me in this endeavor to bring All Ears to fruition and save our kids and teenagers.