Jose Reza was born in a small town in Mexico on Feb.24, 1997. He now resides in Immokalee, Fla., with his mother. He attended Immokalee High School and graduated in 2016 with  a 4.6 grade point average, earning the State Of Florida Student on the Year award.

Reza had offers from Brown University, Columbia University and many other private institutions but chose to attend Allen Community College because of the opportunity to develop as a runner.  Jose is a double major, in science and math.

Reza began running due to ongoing struggles in his life. “I started running track my senior year of high school,” he said.  “I had a stressful day of school and decided to go for a run and fell in love with it. Running was an escape from reality.”

Today, his weekly training consists of averaging 60 to 65 miles per week with 14 of those miles in one day.

Reza’s experience at Allen his freshman year was rough due to sustaining injuries from workouts, which kept him from running his freshman indoor and outdoor seasons.  He said that he has had an amazing experience his sophomore year.

“Classes have been really easy for me, coming from a competitive academic high school,” Reza said. “The professors are great. I have much support. The professors are always reachable if needed and I have built strong relationships with them.”

As a member of the Red Devils cross country and track team, Reza’s goal this year is to run at a four year institution.

“I want to continue what I love to do while getting an education,” he said.

Reza plans to attend Montreat College in North Carolina after Allen. He plans to continue running as a hobby after college if his professional dreams don’t work out.  He loves to volunteer in the community and mentor kids.

“I assist anyone in need, and I love talking to people to help them out with their problems,” he said.

Reza lives by famous baseball player Roberto Clemente’s words: “Every time that you have the opportunity to make things better, and you don’t, you are wasting your time on earth.”