Amari Weatherford is a senior working towards a bachelor of art while majoring in criminal justice. Weatherford is from San Diego, California, and has learned a lot while at West Texas A&M University.
Weatherford is working hard to attend law school while focusing on track and field.
“I was thinking about doing law school to become a lawyer or an attorney,” Weatherford said.
Due to the differences among communities, Weatherford was drawn to criminal justice.
“Yeah, so just how I grew up, like social justice[is] pretty much everywhere, especially in the United States, just because I live here, so I’m really focused on that,” Weatherford said. “But it’s really just how I grew up. You know, the common difference is that you see what is within a colored neighborhood versus a white neighborhood. And then the differences within the states, which is understandable, but for me, I guess I felt like since it’s a nation, we should all be on the same thing, but we’re not.”
Currently, Weatherford is trying to navigate the next steps in her life.
“As of right now, I’m supposed to graduate in December, but it depends on what we’re talking about,” Weatherford said. “Because for track, I can be here for another four years, so I’m trying to figure that part out. But as of right now, I guess I will just continue to run and then transfer to a different school when I begin law school. I really don’t know where I’d like to go for law school, but I thought about UT, Duke or SMU.”
Although Weatherford came to WT to be part of the women’s track and field team, she was looking forward to moving.
“I was actually wanting to leave,” Weatherford said. “I did not want to stay in California. I definitely wanted to move to the South, I guess you could say so, or at least away from California. So I’m glad to be here. But it did the first two weeks. I was missing home, and not because I was missing my family, no disrespect to them, but I was just missing the big city. Here, you can only hear a train going by. So that’s just like the big thing for me, so I’m trying to get you into an environment, but it’s very different for me, so it’s taking time.”
Since attending WT, Weatherford has had the chance to experience unique opportunities.
“It’s my first year doing indoor season for track,” Weatherford said. “In California, we don’t really do that because it’s hard since there’s not really many indoor tracks there. There’s not much here that I’m used to from California, so I’m just trying to find, I guess, still trying to find things or just trying to find what I can do because it’s a rural area. Being at WT allows me to be uncomfortable because I’m not really big on being social and like big groups and stuff, so it forced me to be out of my shell, even though I still persevere to be there. But I mean, that’s about it. I also get different political perspectives because I’m coming from a liberal state to a conservative state, so I hear different perspectives all the time; whether I agree with them or not, I like to be able to do that. ”
Weatherford’s favorite part of WT is Brooke Alverson, WT’s track and field photographer.
“Out of everything that is different between here and California, she’s the only thing that’s the same,” Weatherford said. “She does what you’d expect a photographer to do and is very nice to us all.”
Around campus, Weatherford is part of Fellow Christian Athletes and competes in the 60 meters, 200 meters, 400 meters and the 4×4 relay race for the indoor season along with running the 100 meter, 200 meter and 400 meters for the outdoor season. Outside of academics, Weatherford enjoys shopping, spending time with her dog, visiting with friends and cooking.
Weatherford believes you shouldn’t let others discourage you from doing something.
“Don’t let teachers discourage you,” Weatherford said. “Unfortunately, I experienced it for the first time with a teacher here last semester, but honestly, you know yourself better than anyone else. You know what you can do and what you can’t do, so handle the situation, pray about it and then do it.”
