By Nicholas Slepnikoff
Joash Osoro, a freshman business major originally from Kisii District in Kenya, has come to UP from Bismarck, North Dakota.
He is one of three cross country men from Kenya, and is brand new to Portland.
At seven, Osoro lost both of his parents, and was left with his two older brothers. One of his brothers, who had moved to America, then inspired Osoro to come to the U.S.
Family, Osoro continued, is one of the most important things to him.
After working hard on his grades, he managed to get accepted to a Catholic school in Kenya. An American missionary inspired Osoro saying that if he had good grades, he could go to the U.S. Eventually, Osoro, whose grades had led him to be accepted to an American high school, then traveled from Kenya to be with his brother and go to St. Mary's in Bismarck. Bismarck High School, a neighboring school, had a cross country team for which he competed.
"As a freshman, I did try... but I wasn't interested that much," Osoro said.
Although he did attend a school without a team, the two schools cooperated with each other, allowing Osoro to start running. Osoro, after becoming a sophomore, joined the cross country team with more serious intentions and has since been running.
He sees running as a way to get rid of his stress, enabling him to set goals both on and off the track.
"Running has helped me changed my life around," Osoro said. "When I started running, I dealt with most of the stress I had."
Osoro, who has really enjoyed becoming a part of the team here at UP, has similarly enjoyed his first few weeks at the University, although they have been trying.
After college, Osoro hopes to graduate with a degree from the school and also receive a Master's. He is also interested in pursuing athletic training.
Like Osoro, junior finance major Wesley Tarus, also began his running career late. With no high school experience, Tarus started running in 2007 and has since developed a love for running.
Originally from Kapcherop in Marakwet, Kenya, Tarus' trip to Portland was a big transition. After high school, Tarus began to run.
In the same period of time, he took the SAT in order to be able to apply to schools in America. Working on his passport, many universities, Portland one of them, began to contact Wesley and express interest.
The University of Portland's scholarship letter, which arrived late, left little time for Wesley to be approved by the American Embassy for the cross-Atlantic trip.
When he was approved for the flight at the embassy in Nairobi, Tarus then began collecting money to be able to buy a plane ticket. After a 24-hour plane trip with stops across the globe, Tarus arrived in Portland. Now a junior, Tarus likes the University and enjoys being on the team.
"I just wanted to explore the U.S.," Tarus said. "I wanted to travel to other countries; I'd never been to any other countries."
Tarus was also inspired by those in his village.
"In my tribe, it's known as Kalenjin, they are really good at running," Tarus said.
Tarus went on to say that 95 percent of the Kenyan runners in international events are from the tribe. Kalenjin, one of the largest ethnic groups in Kenya, is located in and around The Great Rift Valley in Kenya. It has, in the past, fielded runners such as Kip Keino, who took home gold in the 1500 meter run in the 1968 Olympics.
Tarus hopes to also graduate from the school with a degree in Finance and then earn an MBA.
Learning .html language by himself and interested in web design, Tarus hopes to set up several e-commerce web sites to help earn money online after graduation.
Friends with Tarus, sophomore Alfred Kipchumba is the last of the three Kenyan runners on the team.
From Iten, Kenya, Kipchumba started running in high school where he often competed against Tarus.
There he trained for three months until he went to Eldoret.
In Eldoret, he trained for some time, honing his running skills, where he and Tarus met up again. After Tarus left for Portland, Kipchumba chose to follow him there.
Although they did not leave at the same time, he heard great things from Tarus about the school and made his way over to Portland.
Also a Kalenjin, Kipchumba grew up in a family of runners.
"My family had the genes for running," Kipchumba said. "My brother was a good runner too; he was an elite runner."
Unlike his family, Kipchumba did not want to run initially. Later nspiration to study in America originated from his closest childhood friend.
Kipchumba and his friend began to train in order to get a scholarship. The two still talk to each other.
After training and applying to colleges, Kipchumba soon was contacted by UP, and with the help of Tarus, talked to the coach about running for the team. He credits running as his inspiration to study.
"Running is so important to me," Kipchumba said. "It helped my education."
Kipchumba also avows he loves the University of Portland atmosphere.
"It's small," Kipchumba said. "You can talk to them when you have problems."
He also likes the team and has a real close connection with both Osoro and Tarus.
"Joash is a good guy," Kipchumba said. "To me, it seems like we've been together for a long time... he seems like a brother to me."
After finishing school, Kipchumba is unsure of his future. However, interested in starting a small business or continuing with his running, Kipchumba hopes for a good future.
Overcoming the initial culture shock all people face when living in a new country, these runners now have become more accustomed to Portland and, with help from their teammates, have managed to find a comfortable life at the University.
