LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The “dumb jock” stereotype is a tired cliche. The implication that elite athletes can’t also excel in the classroom has been proven wrong time and time again. Spectrum News 1 High School Scholar Travon Moore is just the latest example.
The senior at Eastern High School certainly has the athletic side covered. As a star running back for the Eagle football team, he made the Blue/Gray All-American Bowl and was named a “Top Performer” at the event’s Combine. He also ran track and qualified for State in the 4x400 Relay.
What You Need To Know
- Eastern High School is home to football and track star Travon Moore
- Moore has a 3.5 GPA and is a Science Fair participant
- He's attending Hanover College to study biology and finance
But Travon is equally accomplished in the classroom, with a 3.5 GPA and participation in the Science Olympiad. He advanced to the state level with his Kentucky Science Fair project, where he studied how methyl salicylate can impact circadian rhythms.
When we asked him which was more important to him, he said the answer was easy: the classroom.
“I play football and I'm a running back. That takes a toll on your body and of course your body's gonna wear out, but your mind's not really ever gonna wear out," he said.
Achieving success in both disciplines isn’t easy. It takes time management skills and a commitment to excellence. He told us, “I know things are gonna be tough, you gotta start conditioning yourself to learn how to persevere through those things. If you're sitting here now thinking, 'hey, I don't want to do this essay,' what's gonna happen with the next two essays? And then it kind of builds up, you kind of build a character of laziness. So if you kind of condition yourself to do those things — do the things you don't really want to do, it's gonna build on your character. You're gonna do great things later on.”
Travon will attend Hanover College on an academic scholarship, where his football future is “not set in stone." Neither is his future career, although he’s got a variety of options, saying “I want to actually go somewhere in the medical field, I was thinking about majoring in biology and minoring in something like finance. My dad really wants me to do investment banking actually.”
A biologist investment banker? It’s not a typical combination. But Travon is not your typical student.