Theresa Mayanja

Track star Theresa Mayanja does it all, not only on the track, but in life.

In her fifth year on the women's track and field team, Mayanja continues to improve. She threw a career-best 12.80m (42-0) in the shot put at the Tiger Paw Invitational (Feb. 10-11), scored a career-best 3785.00 in the pentathlon at the PNC Lenny Lyles Invitational (Jan, 27-28) and cleared a career-best 1.63m (5-4.25) in the high jump for third place at the Wolverine Invitational (Jan. 7). The diversity being a multi-event athlete provides Mayanja is a recurring motif in her life.

To be a multi-event track and field athlete, you have to love adventure and versatility. Mayanja thrives off of having variety. Whether it's during the pentathlon, switching sports from gymnastics to track, or using business as a gateway to law, Mayanja refuses to limit herself.

As Mayanja came into her undergraduate career, one of her main goals was focusing on tenets that are important to her life at large, not just her profession. First, she talks about the importance of literacy, specifically financial and legal. Understanding the importance of financial literacy inspired her major in business. In terms of law, Mayanja names three core reasons for her interest in pursuing law: her own well-being, expanding Black presence in the field and becoming an advocate for others.

"Growing up, I always wished there were more examples of Black lawyers set forth for me," said Mayanja, "and so the fact that I'm now interested and can help expand the Black presence there and become an example for someone else is really big for me. Also with this profession, I can be an advocate for people who can't help themselves."

Last year, Mayanja had a stellar scholastic performance, but her academic journey looks different this year as her focus has shifted to attending graduate school. Having completed all the preliminary research, applications and standardized tests, the task of deciding which program is the best fit is at the forefront of her mind.

"I am trying to take a very holistic approach to the decision that I make when it comes to choosing a program for graduate school. The cultural experience that could or couldn't be provided at either institution is really important. That's something that I didn't look into a lot when I came to undergrad and it's something I want to be very conscious and considerate of going forward."

Part of Mayanja's consciousness is cultural. As the daughter of a Ugandan father and white American mother, she's had to curate her own experience as a Black woman in America, given her racial and ethnic backgrounds. Exploring all the different parts of herself has shaped the way she thought about graduate school. She is being extra meticulous about where she chooses to take on a second degree because she now is considering historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) -- an option she didn't originally have when selecting where to attend for her undergraduate degree.

"Even just learning that HBCUs are an option has shaped the way I look at grad school," said said. "That's why I decided to look into them, because expanding my cultural experience within education is important to me."

Many people believe that with a business degree and a forthcoming law degree, her path is clear cut, but not Mayanja. She went on to explain that it's not as simple as people believe -- and it's okay that it's not.

"I wouldn't say I have any specific corporate goal," she said. "I'm more so just setting myself up to have options. Over the past year, a lot of different avenues have presented themselves for me and I'm very open to exploring all of them. I want to do law, help people and have that legal literacy in my back pocket. But, I also love sports, social media, coaching, exploring and traveling."

With having so many different interests, Mayanja is determined to put herself in the best situation to consider all of them in some aspect of her life.

"I'm too young and there are too many different things to do in this world for me to say 'I'm only going to do this one thing.' I'm not going to put a cap on it and put myself in a box. There are too many things I can do to be close-minded about that."

Although Mayanja no longer has the option to compete in collegiate track and field after this season, she still intends on finding opportunities to stay involved in the sport. One way she plans to maintain her connection with and love for track is through her family. The second-oldest of five sisters, Mayanja shares that all her younger sisters are interested in track and field. They are a part of a legacy she's excited to have spearheaded.

Still interested in finding alternative ways to stay active, Mayanja turned to Instagram, which she says has become her virtual journal. With the help of the social media platform, she founded her own coaching company called "Trust Theresa." She uses it as a creative outlet and as a tool to help people achieve their goals.

"It was something that started very naturally," said Mayanja. "I like to give people motivation, inspiration, and it's also kind of my creative outlet. It's a journal of everything I've been learning and teaching myself."

The first Instagram reel she ever posted -- a video of her and her teammates having fun after practice doing gymnastics flips -- went viral. Her account blew up from there.

"I had no intention of continuing to grow [her following and social media presence], but it was also the first time I reconnected with gymnastics. We just so happened to record the video and I got bored and decided to post it."

Mayanja's decision to keep up her Instagram presence in this capacity was purely personal and one hundred percent due to her having fun doing it. Thousands of people began following her, building their own virtual community, and it wasn't long before people were direct messaging her to seek advice and help.

"They were asking me how to strengthen their core; how to become more explosive; how to get started on a back flip. 'How are you so flexible? Can you post your stretching routine?' People started making all these requests and I started unofficially coaching people via Instagram DMs."

Her followers would share videos with her and ask for feedback, and while she would always respond and loved to help, she felt that she could be doing more. Instagram was only the gateway to helping people become the best version of themselves. To truly bring her coaching vision to life, Mayanja connected with a third-party company that helped her set up a platform to coach women through.

"Checking in with my clients is the highlight of my day every day. I love online coaching."

The name 'Trust by Theresa' is the physical culmination of Mayanja's self-discovery. She is very honest about her past struggle with imposter syndrome. How she figured out how to deal with its effects was with intentionality. She constantly reminded herself of all the work she's put forth to have all the amazing recognitions she does.

"I was a national caliber gymnast. I'm an NCAA Division I athlete. I got my personal trainer certification. I myself am proof of my own training. Since I know that, I'm comfortable giving advice to other people."

Even with all of her accolades, experience and wisdom, Mayanja acknowledges that she doesn't know everything. Keeping with her same open-mindedness, she considers herself to be a learner. Her willingness to learn and grow makes her all the more equipped to be a coach to others.

The person Mayanja credits as the reason for her own coaching endeavors is her mother.

"From a very young age, she created this foundational understanding in my mind that failure is okay," she said. "Failure isn't the end all, be all -- it's just a step in my process. It's okay to not be perfect. That's something I try to share with all of my clients: that failure is learning."

At this point in her life, as both her undergraduate and track careers come to a close, looking forward, the aspect of her future that makes her the most excited is her mindset. She's investing a lot of time and energy into understanding and getting to know herself.

"I'm very excited about the mentality I've been growing and nurturing," said Mayanja. "The more I feed into it, the more that I feel and know I'm capable of. As more things come up that I know I can be excited about, I feel confident going after them. I'm trying to build an image of what I want and pursue that image with an open mind and let it grow and develop as I do."