Like most children growing up, Track and Field coach Yvonne Wade’s mom pushed education first in her household.
Born in Tokyo to a Japanese mother and Jamaican father, Wade’s youth was similar to most while being different from them all at the same time.
“I was raised by my mother and obviously being a bi-racial kid in California […] she was very strict, very focused on academics,” she said. “I would do well in school but if I wasn’t 100 percent, I’d have to sit down and correct everything until it was perfect.”
While persevering through the pressures of being an academic-first student, Wade earned her way to a new opportunity and change of scenery.