A Life Changed: Haftu Knight
9/15/2023
At age 10, Haftu Knight was an Ethiopian shepherd. Four years later, he found himself as a runner in Tyler, Texas, casually picking up running with midweek 16-milers.
The graduate student distance runner was born in Ethiopia and was adopted by the Knight family when he was 14 years old. Knight had never been exposed to an education system until he arrived in Tyler, where the then 14-year-old was homeschooled 12 hours a day, every day, to catch up on the American education system. The summer going into freshman year was comprised of learning the alphabet and elementary arithmetic on top of preparing for freshman-level classes, but Knight’s breather each day was escaping outside to run.
“I did about 12 hours of school each day while I was homeschooled just to catch up and see where I could go with that,” Knight said. “That was when I would start running.”
Knight’s first run was a four-to-five mile out-and-back with his adopted brother, Hunter. A few days later, his parents bought him his first phone which had a GPS, allowing Knight to track his mileage. To Knight’s surprise, his mileage tracked 6:20-minute paces.
As the summer concluded before freshman year, Knight met the cross country and track and field coach at Robert E. Lee High School. Both Knight’s desire for and talent in running were evident, and he was told that if he was academically ready for high school, he could run at Robert E. Lee. He would go on to earn four high school letters in track and field and become a four-time cross country district champion and qualifier for Texas 6A regional and state meets.
To Knight, running became a form of communication with others that he could understand, and it still stands as that form of communication nine years later that has also single-handedly changed his entire life.
“Running became a communication to me,” Knight said. “I love the opportunity that we have here (as Longhorns), and it’s crazy how much of a difference (Texas and the Longhorn Foundation) can make in someone’s life from going to, ‘Okay, I’m a shepherd, now I’m going to learn how to plow land and grow my own crops and everything, to (now) I have an education system that I can choose any career I want.’”
The University of Texas and the Longhorn Foundation have given Knight a life he never deemed possible. The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-American sees Texas as an “adventure” because all Knight has ever known is one way to life, and Texas has opened up the doors without limit.
“Everything I’ve known at Texas has been completely different, and I’m the kind of person that grew up only knowing one path into life,” Knight said. “(All I knew was that) there’s only one way into doing life and that’s becoming a shepherd, becoming a farmer and becoming a family man, and that’s it. As I continued my education and athletic abilities at The University of Texas, they gave me so many different opportunities at the top. There’s not only one way that you can live life, (and Texas and the Longhorn Foundation help us see that) we have unlimited access to anything we set our minds to. That’s what it means to be at The University of Texas, and that’s why it’s an adventure … Our limit is limitless.”
Knight is not only a first-generation college student, but the 2023 sport management Texas graduate is now pursuing his M.Ed. in sport management, acting as an example to all those near and far, including his remaining family in Ethiopia.
In the summer months, Knight travels back to visit family and train in the Ethiopian mountains, pushing himself to new heights. The distance runner trains in 5,000 to 14,000 feet in elevation not because it’s difficult but because training at those heights reminds him of who he represents – something head coach Edrick Floréal reminds him of often – not just himself but the combining chapters of his life: Ethiopia, Tyler and Longhorn Nation.
“Training (in the Ethiopian mountains) is difficult, but I do it because I love what I do,” Knight said. “And because I represent more than myself.”
One of the many draws Knight had to the Burnt Orange was the resources and character of Floréal. When Knight met with Coach Flo for the first time, he asked him one question: “Will I be able to have a one-on-one conversation with you?” noting how he wanted to have a relationship with his coach. Five years later, Knight cannot count how many one-on-one conversations he has had with Coach Flo.
“He assured me that I would (get to have one-on-one conversations with him), and he carried through,” Knight said. “(I) can always count on Coach Flo, and no matter what, no matter where I am or no matter what time it is, he will always answer. That is something that separates him from different coaches and separates him, the Texas Track and Field program and Texas facilities from any other program in the country."
My appreciation and my acknowledgement of (donors’) input into The University of Texas and the track and field athletic program, no matter how much or how little that (donors) put into The University of Texas … they are saving so much life, so many people’s lives … Texas means everything I have.Haftu Knight
For a shepherd turned runner and since the first step Knight ever took running, The University of Texas has always been what Knight wanted but always thought was out of reach, made possible by the donorship and support of the Longhorn Foundation. Texas means everything to Knight.
“My appreciation and my acknowledgement of (donors’) input into The University of Texas and the track and field athletic program, no matter how much or how little that (donors) put into The University of Texas … they are saving so much life, so many people’s lives … Texas means everything I have.”
Texas has changed the life of Haftu Knight, given him what he never thought was possible yet always wanted, and it all started with an accidental 16-mile run.
