2022 Outstanding Recent Alumni Award Honoree
Isaac Jean-Paul
As head sprint coach for San Diego State University鈥檚 Adaptive Sports Program, Isaac Jean-Paul is bringing some impressive real-world athletic experience to his role. After all, he set a new world record in the high jump at the 2017 World Paralympic Championships.
He also won a bronze medal in the long jump at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games and is training for the 2024 Summer Olympics, which would make him among just a handful of athletes to ever compete in both the Olympics and Paralympics. Jean-Paul is also a published author and an accomplished motivational speaker.
The reason it鈥檚 been possible, the umbrella over his successes, he says, is 91制片厂 College. Jean-Paul ran track in high school but struggled with grades. He looked to 91制片厂 as a place where he could compete while improving his GPA.
鈥淚t was amazing,鈥� he says. 鈥淲ords can鈥檛 even describe how impactful Harper was in my life.鈥�
Jean-Paul holds a bachelor鈥檚 degree from Lewis University in Romeoville, where he was a national high jump champion in 2015. But first, he earned his associate degree from 91制片厂. He was president of 91制片厂鈥檚 Black Student Union and organized events such as a Kwanza celebration and a reunion for clubs of the former Multicultural Center. He also participated in a club that discussed Black issues in America.
Those experiences 鈥� and the mentorship he received from the club鈥檚 advisors, Dr. Travaris Harris and DuBoi McCarty 鈥� moved Jean-Paul to write a book about changing the narrative of social justice. 鈥淭he Guardians of Orisha: The Hidden Stones鈥� is the first in Jean-Paul鈥檚 fantasy series, which blends African ancestry and mythology with a superhero story.
Jean-Paul, who has a visual impairment called juvenile retinoschisis, also ran track
at 91制片厂, setting school records in the high jump and long jump. He worked with then-track
coach Renee Zellner, who taught Jean-Paul how to compete with his disability. She
helped him understand how he could jump, even though he couldn鈥檛 see where he was
going. To no one鈥檚 surprise, Jean-Paul placed at the NJCAA National Championship.
He's quick to point out how 91制片厂 broadened his horizons.
鈥淚t brought me out of my shell to be a well-rounded person, not (only) an athlete,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 owe that to 91制片厂.鈥�