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Men's Cross Country Jonnathan Fernandez, Men's Cross Country

Hear It From Me: Jonnathan Fernandez

Fernandez bears all on his journey to Chicago State

"Hear It From Me" is a series that serves to tell the stories of Chicago State student-athletes through the most powerful voices they have: Their own. Each month, a Cougar student-athlete pens a first-person account detailing they're passionate about, an experience they've had or anything else of their choosing to further show who they are. Our first author was Christina Britter, a junior on the women's basketball team — read her story here.

Today, Jonnathan Fernandez tells his story:

Before you continue reading, let me first explain something crucial.

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is a United States immigration policy that allows undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children, also known as "DREAMers," who have completed or are enrolled in high school, and who have not committed serious offenses, to obtain work permits and have temporary protection from deportation. 

I was born on May 11, 1999 in Cuenca, Ecuador. When I was six months old, my parents brought my sister, who was one year old, and me to the United States unlawfully. Here's why: At the time, Ecuador was going through an economic crisis. In America, they sought better living conditions — and, most importantly, for my sister and I to get a better education. Shortly after arriving in the U.S., my brother was born. 
 
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For as long as I can remember, my parents told me and my siblings, "echale ganas a la educación," which means "put effort into your education," and I've lived with that philosophy ever since.

Flash forward a dozen years. When I was 13, I met a wonderful couple: Elias and Lorri Yurick. The Yuricks were coaches of the Von Steuben Metropolitan High School cross country and track & field team. The Yuricks encouraged me to come to Von Steuben and join cross country for the fall. At the time, I wasn't sure if I was good enough, but I was interested in what they could offer me, so I trained with them sporadically during the summer of 2012. 

My first workout was a run from the school to the Gompers Park Statue and back, covering two miles. At the time, the idea of running two miles was insane. But I surprised myself and did it. Now, I'm running 20 to 22 miles at a time.

After graduating from Thurgood Marshall Middle School in 2013, I was excited to start training for the 2013 season. I remember my first true cross country race, a three-mile relay race at LaBagh Woods. I raced in many races after that: at Horner Park, Legion Park, and Washington Park. I even went to Niles West High School and Goose Island to compete.

When senior year of high school arrived, I had to decide whether I wanted to pursue higher education or if I would be satisfied with a high school diploma. 

A major reason why I was unsure about going to college is that college is expensive. That's where my struggles began, because I was ineligible to apply for FAFSA (Federal Student Aid) due to my DACA status. As a DACA student, I am not able to apply for FAFSA, Pell Grants, unemployment aid or any form of government aid, yet I still file and pay taxes. 

Fortunately, a cross country runner I met from Robert Morris University referred me to the program's head coach, at the time Paul Zavala, who now runs Chicago State's program. Coach Zavala was able to get me a scholarship that covered 60% of the tuition, enough for me to be able to go to university.
 
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After graduating high school, I made a plan to pay off the $13,000 that I would RMU annually. I did my workouts and runs at 8:00 a.m. and then almost immediately went to my job. I worked as a personal assistant for the CEO of a real estate company throughout the summer.

The community was great at RMU. I met a diverse group of people within the school and was grateful for it. Unfortunately, it was not enough for me to stay. I managed to pay off the money, but the amount was too much for me, so I had to look for alternative ways to receive my college education. I looked at many schools and talked to coaches, but I couldn't really find anything manageable, so as a last resort I enrolled in community college.

My first and only year at Malcolm X Community College was not the best, to say the least. I'd say it was probably the hardest part of my life. I dealt with people who didn't understand how classes worked and lazy people who just wanted to be around me because I put in the time and effort to study and learn. I would just give them all the answers in the class (what's the point of going to college if you're just going to cheat your way through it?).

I even dealt with some racist kids within my age group that lurked around the area. I remember once I was having lunch, and a small group of people walked up to me saying, "you don't belong in this school." 

I just shook it off. Then another one said, "Malcolm X fought for African American rights. Not for you Mexicans." I was already starting to get visibly frustrated, and what they said next really got to me: "They should take all you Mexicans and put you in a school called El Chapo Community College." 

I walked away and told a staff member about it. All this person responded with was, "First Amendment, freedom of speech, can't really do anything about it." It was just swept under the rug like it never happened.

That year was a lucid dream of Murphy's law and nothing more. I finished two semesters in 2018-19, put in the work for my classes, washed my hands and left.

Then one day, Coach Paul called me. He said, "there's a coach at a school called Chicago State University. His name is Craig Collins, and you should talk to him. He said could get you a good deal for college." 

I thanked him and called up coach Collins. He said he wanted to meet me and give me a small tour of the school. I asked Coach Paul if he could come with me. 

Then the day came when I met coach Collins. We talked, and he told me about the team and why I should apply to Chicago State. After everything was said and done, I signed up to attend CSU. Based on my GPA and how well I was able to balance my life as a student and athlete, I managed to get a full scholarship with full housing.

Since arriving at Chicago State, it's been great. I'm happy where I am. While some classes are difficult, I still put in the effort to learn and will get my bachelor's degree soon. I'm still running in every element of weather, from three degrees to 93 degrees, still hoping to finally have the chance to run a full cross country season.
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Players Mentioned

Jonnathan Fernandez

Jonnathan Fernandez

Junior
Christina Britter

#31 Christina Britter

F
6' 1"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Jonnathan Fernandez

Jonnathan Fernandez

Junior
Christina Britter

#31 Christina Britter

6' 1"
Junior
F