‘You need to cultivate a discipline and a drive to put the work in every day’
If you were to write a paper about Simon Fraser’s middle-distance runner Lorenzo Smith, the easiest way to start it would be to say: “In a perfect world ...”
That’s because with a 4.20 GPA in biomedical physiology — just 0.13 shy of the school’s perfect A-plus — the Chilliwack native owns the highest grade of the 352 varsity athletes who competed for the Clan this past term.
Yet for Smith, who aspires to med school in the near future and a potential career as a doctor, the quest for personal excellence is so much more organic.
“Academics, for me, it’s not about who is the smartest or who has the most ability,” says Smith, a former Province Head of the Class valedictorian. “It’s very much about discipline and dedication and study habits.
“These are thing that you need to learn. You need to cultivate faithfulness, you need to cultivate a discipline and a drive to put the work in every day in order to achieve big things.”
It’s keeping within that same vein that Smith, although not the most decorated member of his school’s cross-country and track-and-field teams, makes the time within his schedule to test himself within the athletic forum.
“Beyond the fact that exercise, in and of itself, is helpful for any academic pursuit, it’s about the attitude with which I approach running and the attitude with which I approach academics and life in general. There is so much crossover.”
It has all added up to a collegiate experience that Smith doesn’t hesitate to say “has exceeded all expectations.”
And while he’ll never say it himself, the daily process Smith has taken atop Burnaby Mountain each day as he attends classes and practices has been inspiring to all those around him.
“He is a runner,” says SFU’s NCAA program coordinator Laura Reid. “But he’s also a learning coach. And while he’s so strong academically, on top of that he is working in research labs, working for profs in the summer.
“He does more than what you would call enough. He goes above and beyond.”