We all know there’s no shortage of great athletes at WHS, but you might not have realized that one of the best track athletes in the sport is a math teacher’s assistant here at Washington.
Felix Kitur, WHS math teacher Mr. Wu’s teacher assistant, started running track and field at the age of 9. Much of his inspiration came from a family of Olympic athletes: his father and uncle both competed in the 400 meters. Kitur says that doing track was always something he wanted to do for himself. “I remember when I was very little and we were all watching them on TV competing at the Olympics. That was how it started for me, “ he said. “It was just an inspiration; I wanted to be on TV when I grew up.” Kitur got scholarships to come to the U.S and eventually secured a full ride at Division 1 school Virginia Military Institute (VMI).
In high school, Kitur trained like many athletes here do, with daily track workouts and regular sessions in the weight room. He recalls that balancing academics and training was difficult, as he prioritized school and didn’t always take practices as seriously as he could have. When he got to college, maintaining that balance became even more challenging as he tried to fully commit to both. His ultimate goal was to compete in the Olympics, so dedicating more time for practice became increasingly important. At VMI, Kitur competed in both track and field and cross country. Because he did both sports, he trained year-round, transitioning from 5-6 mile warmups for cross country to intense repeats of 1200, 600, and 400 meters during track season.
After college, Kitur joined a professional club, where the schedule became even more demanding. Practices were held twice a day for two hours each. “All we did was focus on training,” he said. “Getting a good diet and treatment, chiropractic stuff, and 30 minute ice baths for recovery.” Right before the Olympic trials, however, Kitur’s Olympic dream was put on hold. “I ended up tearing my hamstring. It took about eight months to heal. So that was a very critical time, and I had to cancel my plans for the trials,” he said. During that recovery period, he returned to his studies, hoping to make use of his mathematics degree. He tutored math for several years before going back to school and applying to become a teacher. Now, as a first time student teacher at Washington, Kitur assists in Mr. Wu’s Algebra/Trig class.
Although Kitur’s only been at Washington for a few months, he and Mr. Wu have developed a strong relationship both inside and outside the classroom. Wu describes discipline as one of Kitur’s defining characteristics, something he likely carried over from his training years.
Mr. Wu admits that he initially saw Kitur as “timid and shy” when he first entered the classroom. Still, he admires Kitur’s athletic background and transition into teaching. “It touched me because I’ve known many athletes who worked all their lives for something, and then just because of injuries, it ends. So I had a lot of empathy,” Wu says.
Kitur shared that Wu has taught him a lot about structured planning and strategic teaching methods that he plans to use in the future. But Wu says he has also learned from Kitur. “I’ve learned the importance of being resilient and humble and I’m reminded that you can become an effective teacher by listening to your students.”
For all the athletes: an injury doesn’t mean the end of the line. Even if it prevents you from doing the sport you love, you can always find another purpose outside of athletics. Kitur himself mentions that he still runs from time to time; although he doesn’t do it competitively anymore, he still loves the sport just as much.
Tanishqa Kolekar is a junior at Washington High School and was born and brought up in Fremont. This is her first year at the Hatchet and she’s interested in writing about politics, as well as covering common school issues in a more humorous fashion. She enjoys reading, writing flash fiction and short stories, and developing video games in her spare time. In the future, Tanishqa hopes to be a cybersecurity professional or video game developer, although she’s painfully aware that aiming for a computer science degree could just leave her living in a nicely decorated tent.