Studying abroad in Senegal has given Thomas new perspective on career, life entering NCAA Division 1 Indoor Championships

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Gabby Thomas is one of the nation’s elite sprinters attending one of the country’s most prestigious universities.

But in order to achieve her desired transformative experience away from the Cambridge (Mass.) campus, the Harvard junior standout knew she would have to go the distance over the summer to find a life-changing opportunity.

With greater perspective on life on and off the track following an eight-week trip to Senegal, Thomas now looks to reach another level in her athletic career this weekend at the NCAA Division 1 Indoor Championships in College Station, Texas.

“I left there a different person mentally,” said Thomas, who is entered Friday in the 60- and 200-meter prelims.

“Coming back, it’s now, ‘I am a junior at Harvard University, I have two more years and I am incredibly privileged to be here.’ Once you’ve stepped away from that and realized that I could easily not be here or I could easily have not been granted this opportunity to run, it’s a very humbling experience. I could be running on my own time, like they were doing over there on dirt streets, or not even getting an education.”

Following a third-place finish in the 200 final at the Division 1 Outdoor Championships in June, Thomas decided to pass on competing in the USATF Outdoor Championships and a chance to qualify for the IAAF World Outdoor Championships in London, in order to travel across the Atlantic Ocean for a different kind of adventure.

Thomas, 21, joined a group of students for Harvard Summer School nearly 4,000 miles away from Massachusetts in Senegal’s capital city of Dakar, studying culture and religion, as well as learning to improve her French, all while living independently in an apartment.

“I had to sacrifice part of my track season for that, but it was a little more important for me to do that at that time. I needed to get a new perspective. I needed it, and that’s exactly what happened, so I’m really glad that I went,” said Thomas, a 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials 200 finalist.

“Everyone here has one lens and I just wanted a different perspective on everything. Especially being at Harvard, you get so tied into Harvard, what’s going on here, what people are doing here. You’re so not focused on what’s going on, even in other parts of the country, or at other schools, and you’re even less worried about what’s going on around the world or in other countries.

“You don’t really know what you’re missing until you actually do leave the country and go somewhere that’s different in every way you can possibly imagine.”

An enlightening journey

Although Thomas’ main academic focus at Harvard is neurobiology, the education she received living abroad was invaluable in her development.

“You kind of realize every little thing you take for granted. I was really longing for the small amenities that I have back here, but the little things you worry about here are not what people are worrying about there,” Thomas said. “The way they view each other, the way they view religion, everyone is so personable. People matter so much more there. It’s not just about money, jobs and getting things done.”

Thomas had previously traveled with family to Jamaica, in addition to visiting Canada. However, the opportunity to not only take a trip to Senegal, but study abroad, was one she couldn’t pass up.

“I knew I wanted to go to a French-speaking African country and that was one of them and I said, ‘This is where I want to go.’ So you have to apply for funding and they give it to you,” Thomas said. “You’d be crazy not to do it. I just think that anyone who doesn’t use this opportunity has got to be nuts.”

Some of the highlights for Thomas included visiting mosques, riding camels in the desert and traveling to Goree Island, located off the coast of Senegal, opposite Dakar.

Goree Island played a prominent role from the 15th to 19th centuries in Atlantic slave trade. One of the most significant buildings Thomas visited is the House of Slaves, now a museum that opened in 1962 and continues to remain a memorial to the final exit point of the slaves from Africa.

“That’s why I didn’t want to go to Europe,” Thomas said. “Even though the culture would be different there, I wanted to go somewhere that I just truly didn’t understand and I couldn’t fathom just by seeing pictures and reading about, and that’s exactly what happened.”

Thomas also gained a greater appreciation for what it means to be a woman living in the U.S. versus the West African nation.

“You have to really remind yourself that, ‘I’m in a different country and the way I dress is not going to be OK there and the way I speak and the way I address certain people, it’s just amazing how much it impacts people’s everyday lives.’ We’re just so progressive here,” Thomas said. “Not so much in the city, but in the country of Senegal, women just aren’t educated. They just don’t think it’s worth the money or the time or the effort. Working in the house anyway, that’s the mindset they have. It’s really different.

“I’m not one to go there and make comments about their culture because it’s not my place, but it’s not really about the women at all. They cook, they dress how they’re supposed to dress and that’s that.”

But Thomas quickly noticed that the French-speaking men took a liking to her and the other female students in the group.

“I had many proposals,” Thomas said. “They love American women. The only issue was I’m not very fluent in French, but you really have no choice. It’s not even like a touristy area, they just don’t know how to speak English, so you really didn’t have a choice in order to communicate. I thought it was cute. Now I have a much better idea of what they’re saying.

“They get so excited and so engaged to have a relationship with someone from the U.S. In that sense, you feel so privileged, even more privileged than you would feel just being at Harvard here in the U.S.”

A spiritual awakening

Thomas was raised Christian, but considers herself more spiritual than devout in any specific religious beliefs.

Part of her anticipation for living in Senegal was the knowledge that the country is 97 percent Muslim, and how the emphasis on religion would play such a significant role, not only in the culture, but with education.

“Going in, it was quite a culture shock, but I think it’s really important for people to get out of their comfort zone and what they’re used to in the biggest way that they can,” Thomas said. “I went there not thinking much about it, and I assumed it would be kind of like it was here, but everywhere you go, it’s prayer, prayer, prayer. Walking to class, you can hear at the mosques people praying, so we went to visit a lot of big prayer sites.”

In addition to having a priest travel with their group, Thomas also achieved a greater understanding of the impact of Islam on not just the culture, but the entire nation.

“You kind of have to feel something when everyone around you is so strong in those beliefs. I wouldn’t say that it changed my perspective of how I view religion, but it was amazing how much I didn’t understand about religion,” Thomas said. “There’s a lot to take in and a lot to learn. It was really surprising to see how differently people live, just very strict in their religion and how the culture is so affected by religion. It’s actually amazing just how much that did affect me there because it’s such a big part of their culture.”

Good to be back home

Although she was in Senegal for educational opportunities, Thomas still maintained a desired level of fitness in an effort to make a smooth transition back to fall training with Harvard associate head coach Kebba Tolbert after returning home in August.

“I just did what I could. There aren’t a lot of facilities there or opportunities to run on a track, so just general strength training, maybe some hills if I could find them,” Thomas said. “There was a track pretty far away, but traveling is difficult enough when you don’t speak the language, so I just kind of used what I could around me. In that respect, I was definitely ready to come back and get back to training.”

Whatever opportunities for physical improvement or racing experience that were put aside by Thomas during the summer were more than made up for by gaining emotional maturity and mental toughness.

“There is something very maturing about going out and living independently in Senegal,” Thomas said. “You aren’t babied the same way we’re kind of babied here and you don’t take everything for granted. I realized that this was my time to do what I do and do what I love. Other people don’t have an opportunity to do this and I came back and had the best fall training I’ve ever had.”

Following an eighth-place finish in the 200 at last year’s Division 1 Indoor Championships, Thomas called the disparity between her indoor and outdoor performances “embarrassing.”

Despite being a three-time All-American, Thomas knew that in order to consistently run under 23 seconds in the indoor 200 along with trying to dip below 7.20 in the 60, there would have to be adjustments in order to refine her start.

“We’re always evaluating technical efficiency,” Tolbert said. “The faster you want to run, the better technique you want to have because that’s just efficiency. The more those steps are efficient, the energy expenditure is different and the elastic energy production is different, so mechanics make a big difference.

“It’s really about balance and can you be a balanced athlete. Can you exhibit power, can you exhibit posture, can you exhibit rhythm, can you develop rhythms throughout the race and can you change rhythms? The better athlete you are and the more specific your skills are for that event, then the better off you are.”

Thomas went to Senegal seeking more balance in her life and reaped the benefits in numerous ways.

Upon her return, her smoother, more deliberate running style needed to be meshed with a more explosive start, not only to achieve greater success indoors, but in preparation for even bigger aspirations outdoors.

“You’re trying something so new, and you’re just not used to running it a certain way and so you have to kind of get the hang of it and it’s going to go wrong and you’re going to have a buffer period where you’re trying it out and it’s not going to work, but once it does work, you’re just that much better,” said Thomas, an 18-time Ivy League Heps champion.

“It’s something I’m going to have to continue to improve upon because it’s not one of my best skills. It’s a skill for a lot of people, just not me, but I think if I bring the focus I’ve had recently, it should be a really good season for me outdoors. You learn a lot from indoor and you’re able to translate that to outdoor.”

Thomas gained the respect of 2012 U.S. Olympian and recent World Indoor 4x400 relay gold medalist Georganne Moline when they raced Feb. 10 at the Texas Tech Shootout, with the Harvard captain prevailing in the 200 by a 22.95 to 23.23 margin to equal the No. 9 indoor mark in the world this year.

“She’s really good and I knew she was going to push me to a time I wanted to run,” Moline said. “I was really fortunate to have her there because I know strong she is the second half of the race.”

Thomas hopes to combine more impressive starts with the motivation of last year’s disappointment to not only secure a fourth career All-America honor in the 200, but challenge her indoor personal-best 22.88 in Saturday’s final.

“I’m just thankful to have this opportunity again,” Thomas said. “I think a big part of it is who comes that day and who is the biggest competitor and the most aggressive competitor, so I’m ready. I love competing.”