Tanisha Kendrick is one of Morgan State University's foremost track athletes. Starting off strong in her freshman year by capturing the rookie of the year title in the ECAC 400 meter and 500 meter, she has continually placed strongly over the years in ECAC, Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) and at Penn State as well as other prestigious competitions with the Morgan Lady Bears track team.
Kendrick is a graduating senior making this is her last season competing and studying at Morgan and already she has clinched the championship in the 400 meter dash at both the MEAC and ECAC indoor track competitions.
Kendrick sits down with fellow Morgan State senior Kelene Blake-Allick for an interview to give us insight on her experience as a Lady Bear.
Kelene: Tell us about yourself.
Tanisha: My name is Tanisha Kendrick. I run track for Morgan State University. My major is Pre-Professional Physical Therapy and I'm 22.
Kelene: What high school did you go to?
Tanisha: I went to Tucson High Magnet School in Tucson Arizona.
Kelene: Where are you from?
Tanisha: I was born in Dayton Ohio and raised in Tucson Arizona. I moved to Arizona in third grade so I was about seven-ish.
Kelene: What's it like there?
Tanisha: It's warm. It's hot.
Kelene: What is your track specialty?
Tanisha: [My] specialty is the 400 meter sprint.
Kelene: What other track events do you do?
Tanisha: Sometimes the 200, the 100, once in a blue moon the 800. The 4×400 and 4×100 meter dashes. And then cross country season, I do that twice a season – two races per season. It's like a 3K, 3.2 miles. Hate it. I do not like cross country.
Kelene: Why did you get involved with track?
Tanisha: Because it was something to do at the time and my Mom did it. I was more into soccer at first, so I was a soccer player and then the second half of the semester there's nothing else to do so I was like 'I'm going to join track' and then find out 'hey I'm good at it' so I just kept going with it.
Kelene: When was this?
Tanisha: I was in middle school. I played soccer from third grade till high school and ran track from sixth grade to now.
Kelene: What made you choose to major in pre-professional physical therapy?
Tanisha: First I wanted to be in criminal justice but I don't think I liked it too much. It was just too much science and blood and too much stuff I just didn't like. So I was like 'what else could I do?' So I figure I like sports, I like learning about the human body, I'm interested, so that's how I chose it.
Kelene: What personal characteristics help you to do well in what you do?
Tanisha: I'd say I'm real determined and I don't like to lose, so if my coach put me in any race I'm going to do it one hundred percent. I'm going to run to the best of my ability and I'm not going to slack behind and say 'It's not my event so I'm not going to do it.' I'm real competitive. If I have an assignment, if I'm in a group I'm going to do it to the best of my ability
Kelene: How do you balance academics and athletics?
Tanisha: It's hard, especially second semester because that's when track starts up and we're gone from Wednesday till Sunday, so it's real hard. You just have to keep at it and stay motivated. You just keep yourself in the books and on the track.
Kelene: What are your favorite and least favorite classes?
Tanisha: I like the physical education classes. My worst class is physics. I do not like physics, I feel like I don't understand it. Kinesiology seemed pretty fun. I like kinesiology also.
Kelene: As a senior, how do you feel about leaving Morgan?
Tanisha: I'm excited, but I know after the fact I'm going to be upset and I'm afraid to be on my own. But I'm excited at the same time. It's like a love-hate. I'm ready to leave but I'm not quite sure.
Kelene: Are you going to miss Morgan?
Tanisha: Bits and parts of it.
Kelene: So what's next?
Tanisha: Right now my plans are to go back to Arizona, to get a part time job and to take my tests. I need to pass the GRE, I need to get certified for physical therapy and I need to take another internship because of the colleges I want to go to require two internships of 200 hours each so I have to do that. Hopefully by January I'll know what school I want to go to and be prepared to go to grad school.
Kelene: How far do you want to go?
Tanisha: I want to pursue my PhD in physical therapy.
Kelene: How would you describe your experience as a Morgan Bear? (You're a Bear!)
Tanisha: Raaar! We had our ups and downs but overall it was exciting, a new experience, something different in my life. And I love travelling; I'm going to miss it. I know I'm going to miss it in a couple months, but right now I'm excited to leave. It was a good experience. It's good to have something other than school all the time.
Kelene: If you come back to visit Morgan in ten years what would you like to see?
Tanisha: I know Morgan State wants to keep the history in our buildings and stuff but I will like to see new classrooms, better chairs, new facilities, and hopefully an indoor track and field facility.
Kelene: Who or what is your biggest inspiration?
Tanisha: My biggest inspiration is my family. My Mom, one, because [she's there] through all the ups and downs. Having kids at such a young age, she had me when she was nineteen, she didn't get to do what she wanted to do. She wanted to run track and play volleyball and go to college like that, but when she had me she just went to college, got her Masters in mathematics in education and so I guess I got handed the baton to run track for her. And then my brothers and sisters look up to me a lot so they see me [and say] 'I want to be just like Nisha, I want to be better than Nisha' so I have to set the standards high so that I can see them passing me in the long run.
Kelene: Do you have any advice to incoming student athletes?
Tanisha: My advice to incoming student athletes would be not to give up and not to judge yourself, not to put too much pressure on yourself. You still have four years to graduate, four years to set your standards high and pursue your goal. My advice would be keep your heads in the books and keep your minds off of all the wrong [things] in college, all the distractions, get away from all the bad stuff.
