Callan McCollister
Before the sun rises and most people have their first cup of coffee, Pierce football player Galen Osborne is awake and ready to start his two-hour commute from South Los Angeles to Pierce College.
His day starts at 5:45 a.m. when he boards the first of four buses and one train he takes to school five days a week.
“I usually get off the last bus at 7:55 a.m., so every morning I have to sprint to my class that starts at 8 a.m.,” Osborne said.
An 18-year-old freshman at Pierce, Osborne endures his hectic morning routine because he knows all his hard work now will pay off later.
Osborne played middle linebacker last fall for the Pierce Brahmas and now has high hopes of transferring to a Division I school next year, with his top choice being University of California, Berkeley.
“I feel confident that I will get a scholarship to one of my top picks, whether it be for football or academics,” Osborne said.His high hopes of playing for a Division I school last year were quickly squashed when he had to change high schools his senior year and then didn’t get playing time on his new school’s varsity football team.
“I came too late in the season and had missed practices so I was forced to sit on the sidelines for most games,” he said. Because of the lack of playing time on the field, recruiters no longer looked at him seriously as a top prospect.
Recruiters such as Arizona State University and Virginia Tech recommended that he attend Pierce for a year because it has a good football team and credits are easily transferable.
He agreed with their recommendation, and it was not until later that he discovered how far away it was from his home.
The distance of his commute no longer matters to Osborne, who, with a 3.66 GPA, will certainly have an abundance of possibilities.
“I have so many things I want to accomplish in life,” he said. “Of course, getting into the NFL is my number one goal, but it’s not my only goal. I would love to get into computer engineering or maybe go to culinary school.”
Osborne is very focused and sure of what he wants for his future.
However, he never takes himself too seriously and likes to live by the motto, “No matter what you do in life, you can’t control destiny.”
Living a straight-laced lifestyle of no smoking or drinking is also very important to Osborne, who doesn’t consider himself the “typical jock.”
“I want to be the most pure player I can be. I don’t want anything to get in the way of my dreams,” he said.