Yohance Whyte, left, with Khaleel Jackson.
Every month we are interviewing one of the young men in our After School program. This month we meet Yohance Whyte.
Tell us about your family and other important people in your life.
I live with my mom and dad. We’re going to be moving pretty soon. Let’s start with my mom. I’m taller than my mom. I’m almost to my dad’s height. My mom works at a police station. My dad is a referee and works at a community college in downtown Manhattan. The best thing about my parents is that they take me to places I’ve never been, like Puerto Rico, Las Vegas, and Hawaii. They’re really fun and I like hanging out with them, except when it comes to shopping. The other important people in my life are my three sisters, Kanika, Aisha, and MiMi. Aisha just had a son in March, Khaleel!
What is your favorite subject in school, and why?
Math, because ever since first grade I’ve been very good at it. I like doing long division and multiplication and solving word problems.
What do you want to be when you grow up, and why?
I want to be an engineer because I was inspired by Philip Emeagwali, who made the fastest computer in 1989 and has been called one of the fathers of the Internet. I also want to be an engineer because I’m creative. I also want to be an NFL player because I love football.
What is your favorite part of what we do at The Bridge Golf Foundation? How do you think it will prepare you for the future?
Golf is my favorite part. In the future, when someone asks me to play golf, I will know how to play and be good at it. Learning STEM will also help me in the future because I want to go to college at LSU, where I will study engineering.
Besides golf, what other sports do you enjoy playing? Do you have a preference between playing individual or team sports?
Baseball, basketball and football. I like team sports because when I was playing baseball at RBI they taught us about teamwork. I also played for two other baseball teams and enjoyed working together with my teammates. I played on a basketball team when I was about 8 and I liked my teammates.
Do any particular lessons stand out in your memory?
There was one lesson about club speed, face-to-path angle, and attack angle that I liked. We would hit the ball and TrackMan would tell us if we hit it too far to the left or too far to the right. Randy, Brian and Todd taught us how to hit the ball straight, and it helped my swing a lot.
What is your favorite trip since joining the program? We’ve traveled to a lot of great places – The Bridge in Bridgehampton, PGA Championship, USGA Museum and Test Center, City College, Camp Getaway, etc.
The trips to The Bridge were my favorite because the place is very beautiful and the golf course is very big. The Bridge had cool technology, like the device that goes in the ground and reads the moisture level of the golf course. Also, the food is great.
What’s the strongest part of your golf game right now?
The strongest part of my game is mid-irons (mainly 6, 7 and 8 irons). I can hit these clubs really far.
What is one fact that nobody in our program knows about you?
I have a lot of secrets that I normally don’t tell anyone, but my best friend, Khaleel. For example, I met Kyrie Irving when he was a teenager in Harlem at a basketball tournament.
Favorite sports teams/athletes/music/video games?
My favorite teams are the Dallas Cowboys, Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Yankees, and New York Red Bulls. My favorite athletes are Kyrie Irving, Zeke Elliott, Dak Prescott and Dez Bryant. My favorite music is Michael Jackson, Chris Brown, and the Jackson 5. My favorite video games are Madden, NBA 2k, WWE 2K, Call of Duty, Lego and Halo.
We have covered a lot of ground in Character Education/Service learning this year. Can you give any examples of how it has impacted you as an individual in our program and in your daily life?
There’s a lot of stuff I didn’t know about that we learned in character education. When we started talking about philanthropy, I was interested because I want to learn how I can give back to my community.