Micah Awe: Student-Athlete Defined
November 14, 2015 | Football
Today will be Micah Awe's last home game as a Red Raider.
By: Britton Drown
Special contributor to texastech.com
When Micah Awe takes the field Saturday at Jones AT&T Stadium, the scene will likely reflect that of any other collegiate Senior Day. The linebacker will emerge from the stadium's south end zone tunnel in the midst of a whirlwind of emotions. He'll greet his parents, Charles and Abigail, at midfield and the Red Raider faithful will salute Awe's memorable career in the scarlet and black.
The final steps onto Tech's field will conclude those first taken in 2012 as a freshman when the young defensive standout first entered the Red Raider defensive lineup and never looked back. Now, Awe enters Saturday's clash with Kansas State as the team's leader in tackles and one of the Big 12 Conference's most consistent linebackers.
There's much to celebrate about this Red Raider, and surely it will be, but his career on the football field tells only a synopsis of the larger Awe story - one that makes him one of the most impressive student-athletes in the country.See, while football is what so many may know Awe for, it's not what defines the senior. For the Nigerian native, it's a culture of deep faith in the fruits of hard work that have served as the backbone to his success as a premier student-athlete.
In May, Awe will graduate from Texas Tech as a four-year letterman in football, with more than 50 appearances and more than 200 career tackles. He will also complete his academic career with a degree in petroleum engineering.
It's a feat that raises eyebrows for many who understand the demands of Division-I athletics and the very same demands of such an ambitious field of study. Yet for Awe, the challenge was something he made the decision to tackle head-on.
"It's just been instilled in me," he says. Awe learned that approach from his mother and father, who in 1997, emigrated from their home in Nigeria to the U.S. The pair made the trip by way of the Visa Lottery system, one that required a college degree for eligibility.
Both Charles and his wife met those qualifications, and when Awe was three-years-old, they started their life in the U.S. The two have since earned master's degrees, Charles at the University of Texas at Arlington and Abigail at Texas Tech.
Now, as Awe is set to earn a college degree of his own, he says he draws on the long journey and sacrifices of his parents to succeed in the midst of a very steep uphill climb.
Awe continues to draw on that journey as he nears the end of his own journey in Lubbock.
"If my mom and dad didn't focus on school the way they did," he says. "I wouldn't be here today."
Speaking to Awe's parents, it doesn't take long to sense the pride in their heritage. It's one of hard work, commitment and a deep faith. It's not unilateral, and that came into play earlier as Awe was first introduced to the sport of football.For the Awe's it's success in academics that should lead to success on the football field.
That lesson came as Awe entered the seventh grade. He made the school's B-team that season, but that competitive nature took root and he never let up.
"I didn't want to be on the bottom anymore," he says with a laugh.
That's when Charles stepped in and reminded his son of their family's priorities. Academics came before athletics. He asked that his son make a pact with him that he would strive to make A's in each of his classes, and if he did so, he could pour effort back into success on the field.
It was a pull back to their family's Nigerian heritage - a culture that places a high value on education.
"There is a standard that we try to set at home," Charles said. "We believe that if you do your job at home, which comprises of faith first - that anything you believe you can do is possible."
Awe listened - and his academic career took off in harmony with his success as a football player.
"I was happy," Abigail, who earned a master's degree at Texas Tech, said. "We were so happy, because God was rewarding him for working so hard. When he got the scholarship we were so happy because he deserved it."
Awe has taken full advantage of both opportunities, as one of the Big 12's top linebackers and at the same time honing his skills alongside industry professionals in Andrews, Texas last spring while many students went on Spring Break.
"He is a leader in all aspects of his life," said Jesse Funk, Texas Tech academic advisor to the football team. "There is no doubt in my mind that he will be successful in everything that he puts his heart and his mind to."
During his career at Texas Tech, Awe has been well-known for not just his own success in both areas of being a student athlete, but also for his efforts in pushing his teammates in the very same areas. "This is something you definitely cannot do alone," he says.
Saturday may be Awe's final football game inside Jones AT&T Stadium, but the senior has a keen sense that this is the beginning, rather than the end, of a long journey.
One that started by way of his parents more than two decades earlier.
"I'll probably cry," Awe said. "It's not the fact that I have a petroleum engineering degree or that I got to play football…it's just a great feeling knowing you did something that most people can't do. But I'm blessed to have the opportunity to do it."
