When Matilda Torres’ Simar Thiara was going through her athletic career, she always through she was going to be a basketball player, and head to college for the sport.
However, that kind of changed a couple of years ago when she suffered an injury that kept her out of basketball. Then, she discovered track, and became quite the athlete.
She turned that athletic prowess into a National Letter of Intent to the University if Indianapolis where she thinks she’ll become a heptathlete.
“My coach even told me that if I stuck to basketball, I would have been great at that,” Thiara said. “I was never the type of athlete that never did one thing. I loved exploring. I believe I’m limitless. I’m testing my boundaries in college, which I’m excited for. They haven’t gotten the opportunity to feel me out of what I can do. They were excited for me to be a multi-event athlete.”
Thiara started her high school career starting on the varsity basketball team as a freshman and sophomore, but injuries kept her from playing the past two years. She then went to track, and even did gymnastics last year.
“Gymnastics reconnected me to my body,” she said. “I did gymnastics when I was younger, and I got to reconnect with my inner child. It was something I loved to do. It rewired my brain to do something I enjoyed.”
It also didn’t hurt that Thiara has a 4.3 grade point average. She plans to major in chemistry, and wants to get into the pre-dental program to become an orthodontist.
She was also looking at UC San Diego and High Point University in North Carolina. However, she decided to change her major at the last minute, and that caused problems with some of the schools.
“Indianapolis was the school that offered me the most scholarship money,” she said. “Indianapolis has always felt like home. I have family out there, so I’ve visited a lot throughout the years. I always felt like I belonged there. It was the little things that made me feel like this is where I belonged.
Although Indianapolis was the first school she applied to, she didn’t really notice them until the day before decision day.
“I changed my major from nursing, originally,” Thiara said. “I had to be realistic with the lifestyle I wanted, and dentistry is where I wanted to go. I had braces, myself. I went into that, and called the school. Not a lot of schools offered me the opportunity to switch majors. Indianapolis was one that immediately said they will do this for me. They just said to promise my attendance. I looked at their track and field team, and looked at their standards. I realized I hit a lot of those marks in different events. It was then that I realized this is where I wanted to be.
“Because I changed my major at the last minute, it was so chaotic. I had to take a day off of school to talk about it. I am very spontaneous, and things seem to work out for me. We all sat down and said Indianapolis was the only school taking me, or it was High Point in North Carolina. My parents said Indiana was good.”
Her goal heading into Torres was to become a college athlete, but questioned that goal with the obstacles she faced during her high school career.
“Seeing myself at a Div. II school, I would have never imagined I would have overcome everything that I was faced with,” she said. “I wanted to do sports for as long as I could in my life. I thought it was going to be basketball, and I wanted it to be. Life had different plans. I didn’t expect to be in college for track and field. Now, I couldn’t imagine another sport that’s suited for me.”
Thiara actually signed a National Letter of Intent during a signing day with four other Torres athletes, and will sign her official letter when she gets to Indianapolis.
Even though Thiara will be halfway across the country, she has family in the area. Her parents had some misgivings, but came around at the end.
“Something changed when I told them I was going to Indiana. They told me to go out there, have fun, live your life and accomplish your dreams. They were all for it,” she said.