As a young girl growing up in Texas, Obi Osafo-Mensah dreamed of playing college basketball with the Women’s National Basketball Association. But a shoulder injury in her sophomore year of high school changed her fate.
Now a junior at the University of Colorado Boulder, Osafo-Mensah is a track and field athlete studying psychology with a pre-medical school track. Before coming to CU, she was on the women’s basketball team and the track and field team of her high school in Fort Worth, Texas.
Her shoulder injury required her to get surgery and forced her to take time off from basketball. When she returned, things felt different.
“I wasn’t playing, my coach wasn’t really giving me a second chance and everything so I was kind of like ‘Okay, this is not for me, I feel like I’m wasting my time here,’” she recalled.
Eventually, she quit basketball and funneled all her energy into track. She now competes in the discus throw event, which is where an athlete throws a disk-shaped object as far as possible.
From Texas to CU Boulder
When Osafo-Mensah arrived at CU her freshman year, she says she was taken aback by the culture of CU Boulder. The university is a historically predominately white institution. According to a 2021 statistic, 67.2% of undergraduate students identify as white.
“I was like, ‘Wow, like there’s really not that many people (of color)’” said Osafo-Mensah, who identifies as a Black woman. “It’s kind of crazy but then after a little bit, I definitely got used to it.”
“And I mean, everyone here is so nice,” she added.
Osafo-Mensah said she’s been able to find community among her teammates and other student athletes. One of her biggest goals for her track career is to qualify for the Olympics.
Her biggest motivation and role model, she says, is her brother.
“I really look up to him. And I really like how he’s been able to keep on pushing and get through all the hard stuff that he had to deal with,” she said. Her brother plays football for Notre Dame University.
Finding balance
Having an organized schedule is crucial when you’re a student athlete, she said. It’s what helps her be good at time management as a full time student and an athlete.
“You have to be able to kind of like, plan out your day” she said. “You know, when you’re going to go to class, when you’re going to get something to eat, when you need to be at practice and you’re going to do your homework, but I mean, if you can figure all that out.”
To achieve her goals and aspirations in life, Osafo-Mensah says she’s had to make hard personal sacrifices.
“[In high school] I would just be so like, track focused 24/7. You know, I’d be like ‘Oh no, I’m not going to go out or I’m not going to go see my friends,’” she said. “I’d be at practice, you know, early, 15 to 20 minutes early, and then I’d stay, you know, 30 minutes late.”
“My past coaches, like they would say, I’m super hard on myself too,” she added. “I’m definitely getting better at that now.”
She said despite how ambitious and busy she likes to be, it is important for her to remind herself to take time off and not be too hard on herself – something she’s still working on.
“I guess (it’s) a big thing for me,” she said. “It’s kind of just like, I shouldn’t worry about every little mistake that I make.”
When asked if expectations from the people around her get to her, she says she prioritizes focusing on expectations from herself and parents.
“I don’t feel like I owe anything to anyone. I owe my parents you know, they’ve done a lot for me. And I owe that to them,” she said. “But expectations from other people, it’s more just like, I’m going to do what I know is best for myself because obviously like I know myself better than anyone else does.”
Apart from career goals and aspirations, she says her goal in life is simple –– to be happy.
“Like, to be actually happy, not just momentarily happy,” she said. “To be able to get to a certain point in my life when I can just like, stand there and be like, ‘Yes, I’m happy.’ I’ve achieved what I wanted to achieve. I’ve gotten here. It took time. It took effort, but I’m here and I’m happy.”
