"Chasing rabbits will make you fast"

A speed training tip from Howard Sanders as he was giving remarks about the guest speaker we had for the day, Ulis Williams. Ulis was born outside of Hollandale and lived there until he was fifteen, moving to the Los Angeles area to be with his father. He went on to set records in high school for the 400m and later set the world record for the 400m. He was apart of the 4x4oo relay team that won the gold medal in the 1964 Olympics. Ulis was not your typical speaker, after his track career he became an educator and for almost ten years was the president of Compton Community College. His trip to Hollandale would have never happened if it weren't for a chance encounter in D.C. with a Hollandale native at a peace rally. He was asked at the rally if he believed in free speech, he said yes and the girl told him he would not mind speaking in Hollandale for free then. Ulis does not have that room grabbing charisma or catchy one liner's. What he did have was as humble of a heart as any man and a genuine appreciation for the welcome that he received from the community. He was almost moved to tears. Ulis told of being born by lantern in his home, his family was sharecroppers. He told of the three places in which he lived, none were described by a street name or part of town, rather he described were he lived by the name of the people who the plantation his family lived on. Ulis never thought of himself as anything special in track because growing up in Hollandale there were always boys faster than him, it was not until he reached California that he became fast. Ulis said something that not many speakers will tell children; he said "Success is when preparation meets opportunity." Usually a speaker will come in and say you can be anything you want if you work hard. Ulis put it into perspective, you can work hard all you want but without the right opportunity you still cant succeed. It is hard to put into words what he got across without giving a transcript of his entire speech. Needless to say, it was great.

I just wish more people like him who left and became successful would come back and help revitalize the town.