April 26, 2012
By Jeremy Hawkes, ASU Media Relations
This is Part Three and the conclusion of a three-part series featuring Arizona State track and field star Daniel Auberry. Part One, released Tuesday, discussed Daniel’s rise to prominence as a track and field star while yesterday’s Part Two discussed Auberry’s overcoming his struggles in the classroom to become a model student. This conclusion picks up with Part Two left off. You can view Part One of the feature here and Part Two can be found here.
“Everything I Do, I Do For Her.”
Daniel Auberry’s path to a successful Division I career was oft arduous, as exemplified by his struggles in the classroom throughout college and having to find his way in a brand new sport. However, it was Auberry’s life growing up that would truly set him apart as the man he is today and give him the tools to overcome all other adversity to become successful.
Auberry was raised in a single-parent home in a tough neighborhood and frequently found himself watching over his younger sister, Asia, while his mother, Toya Woods, worked long hours as a probation officer.
“I didn’t have a lot of guidance because my mom was working all the time,” Auberry said of growing up. “But she still kept me out of trouble by keeping me in sports and other activities.”
Auberry competed in everything as a youth, from football to basketball to baseball. His mom even enrolled him in tap dancing for a time – anything to keep him busy and out of trouble.
But while Auberry was growing up around positive sports influences, others around him were giving in to the temptations and poor decisions available to them in a low-income urban setting.
“A lot of my friends growing up, some of my friends from childhood, they all got in gangs,” Auberry said. “Looking back now, some are dead, others are in jail and some have kids. None really went to college and I was able to stay out of the life.“
Even now, Auberry looks back on his ability to stay out of trouble and attributes it to the steps his mother took to help him avoid such a fate. He’ll be the first to admit that his rise to prominence in track and field isn’t about himself.
“I enjoy track because I’m good at it, but I really do it to help my mom,” he says. “Everything I do, I do for her. To get an education is the first goal, but honestly it’s for my mom so that one day, I can help her with her struggles.”
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"Everything I do, I do for her. To get an education is the first goal, but honestly it's for my mom so that one day, I can help her with her struggles."
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Whether Auberry makes it as a professional sprinter or not, he plans to utilize his tools from college to help him make a living some day, be it on the track or in the workplace, and give something back to his mother.
“I would see her come home after a long day of work with her swollen ankles,” Auberry said of his youth. “She did it all to try and pay the bills and help us, to make something out of nothing and one day, I’ll have a successful career and be able to help her in return.”
Even now, Woods’ work schedule restricts her from being able to witness many of Auberry’s races, but he never fails to call her after every competition to let her know how he performed.
“She’s given me so much advice over the years, but the biggest is to always stay happy,” Auberry said of her influence. “She told me to let no one bring my happiness down. We create our own happiness.”
Persevering For His “Best Friend”
While Auberry credits his mother for being one of the driving forces thus far, it is his grandmother, Cerretha Woods, that Auberry says is the most inspirational person in his life.
When Auberry was born, his grandmother had her legs amputated around the same time. While Auberry made a name for himself with his legs, he was humbled by a person who was a constant in his life who had none. Woods had several heart attacks during his lifetime but was so strong, she survived all of them, Auberry said.
“I just remember any time she’d see me, all I could remember was her smile even when she was sick in bed.” Auberry said. “She always told me I was her favorite grandchild and her best friend.”
Because Woods was immobile, Auberry found himself as her personal driver to help her get around as needed.
“Everywhere I went, she went and everywhere she went, I went,” Auberry said. “I even took her on dates with me. She was truly my best friend and my everything.”
When Auberry found himself back home, wondering where his future lay after his struggles with academics in community college, he felt a ghost of himself. He had gone from the ‘Big Man on Campus’ to a shell as universities and even his own friends and family had seemed to shun him because of him academic woes.
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"She told me I had come a long way and I just needed to keep following my heart. Without those words, God knows where I would be today."
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“It seemed everyone had given up on me but the only person there for me that believe that I could make my dreams come true was my grandmother,” Auberry said. “She told me I had come a long way and I just needed to keep following my heart. Without those words, God knows where I would be today.”
Woods was able to witness Auberry’s rise to prominence in the classroom and on the track over the past couple years, but unfortunately passed away on August 11, 2011.
“She won’t be able to see my graduation in less than two weeks, but I know she is shining down on me from Heaven and she will never be forgotten,” Auberry said. “Everything I do, I do for my mother and grandmother. I will make sure I continue to make them both happy by doing the right things on the track and off.”
Here and Beyond
At this point, Auberry’s future is still undecided but does have direction. While he desires to pursue a graduate degree in teaching, Auberry first wants to turn his attention to a potential FBI career if something in track doesn’t work out.
Auberry became interested in the field after seeing his mom’s career in law enforcement.
“It’s still a team environment and I’d still be outside and I’d still be running, you know? Chasing bad guys,” Auberry said. “It’s something I can see myself doing and staying active and not getting bored.”
Auberry’s impact on those that have surrounded him through the years is as lasting as their impact on him, as many will be the first to admit.
“Daniel is a special young man that we use for inspiration here in our program,” said Jim McCarron, Auberry’s coach at Riverside Community College.
“He has such great values and morals and his mother who is a rock for him,” says his academic advisor, Sophia Sledge, one of the individuals Auberry claims helped to turn his life around. “You can see the change in him over the years and he’s just a great young man that will do well in this world.”
Whatever path Auberry chooses, he is convinced to make it a successful one and not let the struggles of his past keep him from moving forward into the future, a piece of advice he would give all up-and-coming youth coming out of rough environments who think they can’t be successful in today’s day and age.
“It doesn’t matter what you go through, there’s always going to be ups and downs,” he said. “You just need to find a happy medium and create your own happiness. Keep your dreams alive and don’t ever give up.”