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My Future, My Choice: Student defies odds by finding support in school football, church

Zaylin Washington’s parents were in and out of jail while he was growing up. He was briefly in foster care. He was homeless. Other students made fun of him because of the condition of his clothes.

The odds were not in his favor, but he found a support system. He joined his school’s football team as a seventh-grade student and played varsity in high school. A church’s youth pastor helped him with shelter.

Washington recently graduated from Nimitz High School in Irving, Texas, with a full academic and athletic scholarship to Feather River College in Quincy, California. He wants to major in kinesiology.

Washington’s dream is to be an expert on the physiological, anatomical, biomechanical, pathological, and neuropsychological principles of the human body’s movements to help athletes of all ages — and perhaps even open his own sports center.


About the Authors
Alex Finnie headshot

Alex Finnie joined the Local 10 News team in May 2018. South Florida is home! She was raised in Miami and attended the Cushman School and New World School of the Arts for high school.

Andrea Torres headshot

The Emmy Award-winning journalist joined the Local 10 News team in 2013. She wrote for the Miami Herald for more than 9 years and won a Green Eyeshade Award.

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