CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A sophomore at West Oso High School is taking dual credit courses, is a member of 14 different clubs, and plays basketball and tennis all while maintaining his spot at the top of his class.
Those are just a few of the activities that D’Schon Simmons spends his time in. He said he takes part in 14 extracurricular activities, takes college courses along with his regular high school work and volunteers at Church Unlimited. But, that is just the beginning of his high school resume.
“Being captain of the tennis team, playing basketball, being captain of the basketball team, and holding presidency over five different clubs at school,” Simmons said.
The club he enjoys the most is Business Professionals of America (BPA), where he serves as President of the Coastal Bend chapter.
“We discuss different types of things as far as how the club is going to go around the high school, and we speak on business terms business meetings," Simmons said. "It’s all with the intent to educate yourself on how the business world works. I feel like I get to not only learn like so much more about the business industry but like its helped me focused a lot on what I want to be when I get older."
Simmons said his busiest days are Mondays as he begins his day at 6:45 a.m., but he has some help getting out the door.
“I struggle with time management a lot actually," Simmons said. "That's probably my weakest link within myself. But, my mom really helps me schedule things, she helps me make sure I have enough time to do my homework and as well as enough time to plan different things."
“D’Schon he is a go-getter he is an overachiever, he does so much," his mom Amanda Parker said. "And he is really hard on himself and I always tell him, you know slow down enjoy life. He does so much, he is always on the go which means I am always on the go but him achieving everything and as long as he’s happy if he likes it I love it."
So what does Simmons do in his free time?
“I usually don’t have a lot of free time but when I do I like to hang out with my friends," Simmons said. "Whether that's playing tennis. I like to go shopping, I see myself as very adventurous, I like to go try new things."
And what does Black excellence mean to him?
“Black excellence means to me, proving the stereotype wrong," Simmons said. "I feel like a lot of times we are looked down upon because of our skin color. But the promotion of Black excellence is just showing that just because I am Black doesn’t mean I cannot achieve the same things as you.”
Simmons said being the first tennis athlete to win the Corpus Christi Caller-Times Athlete of the Week last fall meant everything to him.
“You know you don’t see a lot of Black people playing tennis around here in Corpus Christi so it was exciting for me but it was more to show my team, my teammates, we can do it too," he said.
Simmons is heading into his Junior year in high school. He is also getting ready to apply for college. His top two schools are Harvard and Stanford where he wants to study to become a lawyer.