It is always a pleasure for us at Haitianbeatz to spotlight individuals that are making a positive impact in various realms. This is a story of Pascale Delaunay. A bright and articulate, young Haitian-American track and field athlete, who’s on a quest to represent Haiti at the 2012 Olympic Game in England as a triple jumper. Pascale took time out of her busy schedule to sit down with Haitianbeatz to give us a glimpse of her life and her passion for not only the sport that she has dedicated her life to, but also her desire to make Haiti stand out at the London Games.  Haiti has not won an Olympic Medal since 1928 (http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ca/silvio-cator-1.html). However, determined and dedicated athletes such as Pascale may just be the catalyst to change that in 2012.

Nadege Fleurimond: Thank you for taking the time to seat with HaitianBeatz (HB) Ms. Pascale Delaunay. Especially with your hectic schedule. We will talk a bit later about that schedule, but for now, let’s give the HB readers some basic information about you. We at Haitianbeatz are well aware of your background, but please share a bit about yourself with our readers.

Pascale: Thank you for having me. Quick background about me I was born in France, but I grew up in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. My father was a general in the Haitian army so during the coup in 1991, I was 9 we left for the states. Once we came to the states we bounced around from place to place, NY, several different places in Massachusetts, and Rhode Island then we finally settled in California. I have a big family so that definitely helped with all the moving we did. I finished my high school in CA, and then I took a track scholarship to the University of Rhode Island. I was very active in sports but like all Haitian parents mine stressed the importance of education. So for me the most important thing was to use my athletic ability to get a top notch education. That was one of the reasons why I chose URI; they had the program I was looking for.  I completed a dual degree in Electrical engineering and French. My college track career was full of ups and downs due to injuries but I had a fair amount of success. After I graduated I started my career as a systems engineer with Cisco Systems, one of the top tech companies in the world. I've been with them ever since, they have a great working environment which has allowed me to train and work at the same time. So I've been fortunate enough to have a career that up until now has allowed me to fund the majority of my training. I  guess I could have just focused on my career and be done with athletics but I felt like I had some unfinished business, so that is why when I came back to California for work I started training again to make my Olympic dream come true. At 29 years old I may not have too many more opportunities to make it happen so I want to give it my best shot to get on the London track.

NF: Where do you reside at the moment? How do you like it?

PD: I live in Claremont, California which is not quite by the beach but more in the valley. For me it's perfect I'm close to my coach where I train, I'm close to the offices where I work and the weather, well I can't complain.

NF: What exactly brought you into the world of track and field? How did it all start?

PD: Growing up I was always active and into sports.  I have an older brother, Joseph, who is a year older than me, so when we were growing up whatever they wanted him to do I wanted. Since we moved a lot we really didn't have the opportunity to get involved in team sports until high school. I was very into my studies as a youngster, so I didn't try out for my first team until my freshman year in high school. I did cross country and volleyball but I did not follow my older brother to track and field as a freshman. When we moved to CA my sophomore year I played basketball then I decided to try track to stay in shape. My older brother was really good at it so I think the expectations were high for me also. I picked up the jumping events pretty quickly so the coaches had me become a jumper and I've been a jumper ever since. It's sort of in our blood because the rest of my siblings all became jumpers too.

NF: How do you manage to maintain a full time profession, as an engineer no less, and you’re training as an Olympic level athlete?

PD: Definitely with a lot of time management and discipline. Fortunately for me those are some of the skills I possess so once I decide I want something I make it happen. I have to get up very early in the morning to train, then go to work for a full day. There are days when I also have evening training sessions as well. But when you look at it 24 hours is a long time so anything that is not about making me better I can do without, it also helps that I don't usually sleep 8 hours I get a solid 6 hours during the weekdays and 8 during the weekends that leaves me with 16-18 hours a day to work and train, when you look at it like that it doesn't seem so bad does it?

NF: Who inspires you? what keeps you going?

PD: I'm inspired by a lot of different things and a lot of different people. I learned early in life not to