Ashtyn Hiron
Comm 600
24 July 2018
Interview Transcription with Ray Hernandez
Q: when you think of your childhood what is one thing that stands out?
A: I was a little skate punk like, yeah I was kind of a little scumbag I would run around with my skateboard doing like hood rat stuff like horrible. Like the locals, they hated me because my friends and I would just run around and like try to be cool in parking lots doing skate tricks and stuff. I see it now and I’m like, those kids are so annoying and I used to be like that.
Q: but you liked skating right?
A: I did then. I don’t know why, it hurts, it’s not that fun. It’s fun to watch on TV. I used to play a tone of Tony Hawke pro skater on play station and then I was like i can do that. There was no way. But then I started playing actual sports, I started playing basketball and running. And I kind of phased out of being a little scumbag I guess.
Q: when did you start running?
A: I started doing local short races when I was in fifth or sixth grade.
Q: how long is a short race?
A: two-mile fun runs, something like that. Then I joined the cross country team in seventh grade and that worked out pretty well. Those were a mile and a half races, like two km’s. it was fun I liked that it wasn’t on a road and we could run through the trails and everything looked a little nicer. When you’re not just running on asphalt all the time you get a decent view. It’s harder and slower, but its nicer to be outside and in the woods and on trails. I did that and that went well so I tried out for the track team, that way I could stay in shape and keep running for the following season of cross country. I ended up liking that even better. 400 meters that was my thing, 800 meters, I tended to like those better. I stuck doing those all the way through college.
Q: where did you go to college?
A: I went to Purchase college, a SUNY school in Westchester, nothing special, division 3, kind of terrible sports. The people who work there are great but it’s more of a artsy school so nobody really cares about sports at all which is kind of depressing. We had a pretty close group on the team so it was fun. The one sport that people cared about was cross country. I don’t know what it is but the weird hipster kids are kind of into running I guess.
Q: are you a weird hipster kid that’s into running?
A: I don’t know, am I? I’ve been called that, I wouldn’t say that I am. I wear colors.
I’ve been running since I’ve been 12, I try do it every day. I don’t know why, because it hurts and it doesn’t always feel good, but I love when I finish running and that head rush you get and you feel accomplished. And you’re like yeah I’m gross and I have to go take a shower but I just did that. And it felt pretty rad.
Q: What did being a student-athlete and on the track team do for you?
A: it was motivating because the minimum GPA requirements to be on sports teams and to keep your eligibility with the NCAA compliance. You’re way busier, your schedule is a lot more packed than the average student. For the first couple of years I was pulling 15-18 credits a semester, and on track/cross country. My days were crazy. I had 7am practice, 8:30 class- there was some days I had to go to class and I was disgusting. I didn’t have time to go back to my apartment and shower. And I was like “I’m sorry guys, I know I smell bad and look terrible im sorry”. I think it ended up making me better at both the sport and academics because, I knew I had a tight schedule so I just followed it. you had to lock in with it. academically, I think just getting up and starting your day with activity I was just so alert by the time I got to class. I could sit in class and focus and really listen to what was being said to me. When you have that rigid schedule you start to plan everything you have to do. So I’m like “I have class now, practice now, if I want to do this in the evening, I have to get all my work done by this time”. I ended up having straight A’s when I was on the team. The only time I ever didn’t do well in school was when I wasn’t on the team. I think being a student-athlete is positive for sure. I think the student-athletes had a higher GPA than regular students. Which surprises me because everyone always has that label “oh athletes are dumb”. Apparently not.
A: did you just finish your undergrad?
Q: no, I finished in 2017. In the meantime, I did a couple of Freelance gigs- photos, articles for garbage local paper, not anything of note. I did a couple online writing gigs and then, they were like $10 an article. Nothing special at all. Then I did odd jobs for the year. I wanted to move immediately after undergrad to New York. But I didn’t have direction. I knew I wanted to produce good stories of some kind. I just wasn’t sure how I wanted to do that. Whether I wanted to write or do video content, so I was like I should probably go to grad school. If worse comes to worse, if I have a master’s degree eventually I can teach at a college. I think that was mostly the past year- nothing really exciting to be honest. A lot of boring stuff. Odd ball free-lances jobs here and then. A lot of my friends had 9-5’s so I’m sitting around all the time during the day.
It all began in the streets of Iliad New York. Ray Hernandez and his army of fellow skate boarders would cruise around town injuring themselves and causing a menace. Until Ray turned 12 and discovered his love for running. Hernandez started with local two-mile fun runs, to high school athletics, to being a student-athlete on the track team at Purchase College. “Running hurts and it doesn’t always feel good, but I love it when I finish running and I get that head rush and I feel accomplished,” said Hernandez. Running on the cross country team in college helped Hernandez succeed both athletically and academically, “Getting up and starting the day with activity, I became so alert by the time I got to class, I could really focus and listen.” Hernandez graduated with straight A’s and great time management skills which he can thank the student-athlete life for.
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