From Swimmer to Storyteller: Lauren Williams

By Geoffrey Chiles

Lauren Williams

Lauren Williams is proud of her cultural heritage---although growing up in the United States, it wasn’t always easy for her to feel that way.

The now-graduate student at the Newhouse School at Syracuse University grew up skinning her knees on the asphalt of a Jamaican schoolyard because there was no grass.  “Stuck on a Pole” provided many positive memories from her formative years in Jamaica. Each team has two members, and they ran from base-to-base in order to stay safe. If you’re caught between bases for too long, you are out. Her fond memories of her early years in her native country helped her to develop a toughness she didn’t know she had. She would need to hold onto them for the challenges that lie ahead.

In 2002, her family packed up everything and moved to the United States in order for her mother to pursue her PhD in Atlanta, GA. As Lauren quickly learned, her classmates in America were less friendly than those in her home country. They were cruel and shot hurtful insults her way.

She tried in vain to change her customs to suit her new surroundings.

“I suppressed my ‘Jamaican-ness’ to fit in because kids can be cruel,” Williams said. “Even though being a Jamaican is something that a lot of people admire, kids don’t see it that way.”

After her mother moved back to Jamaica in 2008, Lauren moved to Chattanooga, Tenn., where she started high school. This would turn out to be a blessing in disguise. She discovered her passion: swimming.

She’s been swimming competitively since she was six, but didn’t swim on a team until high school. There was a peacefulness to gliding through the water effortlessly, moving your arms in concert with your legs and drawing a sharp intake of breath every time you came up for air. It was a gift for her, a chance to find respite from the jeering of adolescent kids who know no better. On her varsity team, she began to come out of her shell.

She earned a Division Three scholarship to swim on the team at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Mass.  Swimming for a Division Three program was far different as she swam less hours than at the high school level.

Her striving towards excellence while on the swim team also fueled her pursuits in the classroom and long-term goals. She graduated this year with a bachelor’s degree in English. Now at the Newhouse School, she plans to use her love of words to tell long-form stories in the Magazine, Newspaper, and Online program.

“I want to produce long-form documentaries (think 30 for 30), and I think with my writing background and my ability to piece stories together, I could do that,” she said. “I would hope that I have a real good storytelling voice and that people would want to listen to what I have to say and appreciate the words I’ve come up with. That’s how I see myself contributing to the sports world and all that it has to offer.”


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Lauren Williams Interview Transcription

      Q: You grew up in Kingston, Jamaica. What was that like?

A: It was good. I went to prep school, and ran around on the asphalt because we didn’t have recess on the grass. There was no playing field, we played on the parking lot. You’d always play cricket with your classmates, you’d always play tag. There was always this game—I can’t even remember it for the life of me now—it was called “Stuck in a Pole.” Basically, you’re in teams of two, and you have to run from base-to-base. The base was safe. You’re trying to prevent the most people from being stuck. I was very young when I was there, so I don’t remember much now, but it was fun. It’s a lot different than it is now. I don’t have many memories, but I do have a few.

Q: How did your family happen to come to the United States? Are they citizens, or did they immigrate?

A: My parents were not there for very long, and my Mom moved to Atlanta to get her PhD in 2002 when I was eight. That’s kind of how my life in the U.S. started. I started elementary school in the fifth grade, and it was fun, but I think I suppressed my “Jamaican-ness” to fit in because kids can be cruel. Even though being a Jamaican is something that a lot of people admire, kids don’t see it that way. That’s how I ended up in the States. My Mom and I are not citizens yet; we just got our permanent residence three years ago.

Q: You’ve lived in a lot of cities in America: Atlanta, GA, Chattanooga, TN for high school. How would you characterize your high school years, and did they lead to any love of sports or an athletic career? 

A: I’ve always had a love of sports. I swam from when I was six to when I ended after college. I’ve always loved watching sports. I think my love of basketball developed more when I was in college—at least, professional basketball and watching it. That’s where I realized I wanted to write about it, and write about the athletes behind the scenes as opposed to what you see on the court. I’d rather write about their life, because there are more stories there than what you see on the court. They have a persona on the court, but behind closed doors they are someone else.  I want to get to know that person, and I want the rest of the world to get to know that person. One of the biggest examples of that is LeBron James. A lot of people see him as arrogant; I see him as arrogant. But that’s his on-court persona. If you look at some of his social media accounts, you’ll see his charities he works with. You see a guy who’s softer, who loves his family. Those are the kinds of stories that I want to work on. In high school, I knew I wanted to do journalism, but I didn’t really specify yet. I’ve always loved sports. It’s always been a big part of me and I’ve done a lot of them.

Q: After you graduated high school, you moved to South Hadley, Mass and enrolled in Mount Holyoke College. How did it feel to leave the South and start anew in the Northeast?

A: It was very different. I mean, it wasn’t necessarily a culture shock because I went to an all-female college. There’s a bit of a stereotype about what happens there and it some aspects it’s very true. In a way, now that I think about it, I can compare living in the South to Mount Holyoke. They are two sides to the same coin. They are conservative in how they shelter you, because it’s a huge bubble (at Mount Holyoke). It’s like a totally different world when you step off campus. There is: UMass, UMass-Amherst on the road, Hampshire, and it was very different because I was in places that were bigger cities. Compared to Atlanta, South Hadley was definitely different. The values and things are very traditional, and the South, in my opinion, is very traditional. That’s how I can see the similarities.

Q: You had a distinguished college swimming career. You broke a few records, including the 200 back record. You would like to parlay your athletic experiences into your goal of becoming a Sports Center anchor. What do you think you’d bring to that role?

A: When that was written, that was back in my sophomore year of college. My goal of wanting to be on-camera has definitely changed. I’m not really interested in being a sports anchor right now. I’m interested in producing long-form stuff like documentaries (“30 for 30”) and I think with my writing background and being able to really piece a story together, it’s good. I’m very word-based, so it’s kind of using creative language to tell a story, and I think when you add your physical voice to it—your actual voice, not metaphorical—I think that really changes how people will perceive the story. I would hope that I have a real good storytelling voice and that people would want to listen to what I have to say and appreciate the words I’ve come up with. That’s how I see myself contributing to the sports world and all that it has to offer.