Success through doing her personal best ...

"MJC offers great teachers.  They’re here because they love teaching and their subject, and they want others to love it too!"

Kapri Hockaday claims that sports have changed her life.  Born in San Jose and raised in Sunnyvale, she moved to Modesto in her freshman year and attended Downey High.  Kapri was a basketball player for her first three years of high school, and only went out for track her senior year after her basketball coach quit suddenly.  “The team was devastated and I thought my athletic career was finished.  But finally, part way through my senior year, I tried track and competed in the 400 meters.  Then I tried high jump during practice and ended up winning conference in that event.”

After graduating high school, Kapri enrolled at MJC and joined the Women’s Track and Field Team.  She found that college did not just take her sports to the next level, but  taught her to pay greater attention to her studies as well, and she encourages other new students to jump at this opportunity to redirect their lives.  “You can start over at MJC.  Who you were in high school doesn’t have to be who you are now.  You come to college for an education, so don’t get distracted.”  

When Kapri does allow herself to enjoy some distraction it often involves her love for the theater.  She was a member of Drama Club and acted in the musical “Grease” in high school and took a theater course at MJC.  She attends plays and performances whenever she gets the chance, with a recent favorite being the chance to see The Color Purple staged in San Francisco. 

The energetic Kapri is also a self-proclaimed “run-aholic” and her athletic achievements as a member of the Pirate Track and Field program were hard-earned rewards for many long hours of practice.  “Sports have strengthened my confidence in myself.  You think there is a limit when you’re tired and want to give up.  My coaches at MJC have taught me to push myself to keep going.  If you can run just one second faster, you can make it to the finish line ahead of that person next to you.”

Pushing herself physically paid off in April 2008 when she competed in heptathlon, (seven events over two days) during the Nor-Cal Combined Events Championships in Fresno.  She came away with heptathlon gold and a score of 4108, one of the top marks in MJC school history in this event.  She also won the high jump during the Nor-Cal Finals at MJC in May 2008, leaping a personal best of 5 feet, 7 inches. 

Kapri is now attending Troy University, a Division I college in Alabama, on a full scholarship, where she plans to earn a Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology.  She would like to coach and teach health at a high school.  “The obesity and STD rates among teens are so high.  By teaching health maybe I can guide them toward a more positive lifestyle.”  She also dreams one day of pursuing a master’s degree and coaching for a Division I university. 

Although Kapri admits to being talkative and having a silly side, she has realized she must stay focused on her priorities in order to achieve her goals.  “It is all about being an adult and making adult decisions.  You have to put your goals first, not your friends or your boyfriend.  I’ve learned to say ‘Don’t call me because I’m studying.’”  Regardless of what her future holds, Kapri points out that the positive life lessons she learned from sports and college can be applied to almost any part of her life.