After a rough upbringing in Waukegan, Darren Patterson needed Destiny to change his life around quickly, before it spiraled out of control.

Patterson had been on the wrong path in life, but that all changed on March 21, 2007. That day, Destiny Rose Patterson was brought to this earth and a new man was born.

“You get bad influences; some of your best friends are joining gangs,” Patterson said. “You want to be in with your friends and you want to do what the cool crowd does. So if they are all in gangs then that’s what you naturally want to do. I didn’t really grow out of that until I got a girl pregnant.

“At that point, I had a lot of responsibility. It changed my life as a person. I realized I wanted to be in the weight room now, I wanted to be stronger and faster, I wanted to get out and break the mold.”

The transition was not seamless as he had grown up in a rough area and needed toughness to escape.

“My senior year, I hit a complete 180,” Patterson said. “I turned the complete other direction. My friends didn’t even recognize me any more. I was speaking better, and I was being more respectful and doing the right things. My popularity went down a lot, but it didn’t really matter to me. I was just worried about getting out of high school and moving on to bigger and better things.”

Patterson did move on, but he still faced a few more struggles along the way. In high school, Patterson did not really apply himself until his junior and senior years and by then it was too late to bring his grades up. He focused on his track career and looked at junior colleges.

After high school, Patterson traveled to southern Illinois to attend Rend Lake College. There, Patterson helped the track team win the 2008 NJCAA Indoor Nation Championship.

“It was the school’s first national championship,” Patterson said. “It is a lot more competitive there than you would think. Being able to win something like that my first time ever, and it was a big thing; it was great for me. It definitely made me want to keep going.”

The reason he transferred to Eastern was to be closer to his daughter, who resides in Waukegan.

“Being away from my daughter, I get home sick,” Patterson said. “I definitely use my daughter as motivation.”

“Whenever I get in a block, I think of my daughter going, ‘Hi daddy, do good daddy.’ It reminds me that I have to go out and do my best.”

Tom Akers, head coach of men’s and women’s track, said Patterson is fitting well with the team.

“He has the attitude where he has a genuine caring for his teammates,” Akers said. “Many sprinters and intense competitors have a very inward focus where they are only concerned for themselves.Darren has not shown that attitude as far as I can tell.”

Akers also pointed out that Patterson is an intense competitor who runs efficiently in all his events and helps push his teammates.

As long as he thinks about it, Patterson has extra motivation that drives him.

Patterson has won the Ohio Valley Conference Track Athlete of the Week award two times this season. His best events are the 200-meter, 400-meter and 4X4 relay.

He also runs the 60-meter and 100-meter races in place of the injured Zye Boey.

“I got here and things kind of fell in my lap,” he said. “Our sprint star got hurt and they had me doing the 60 meter dash.”

I had to embrace it (60-meter dash) and do my best though, and so far my best has gotten me to where I am now.”

He needs the extra work after practice to make sure he is the best at each race he participates in.

“I believe no one has ever won a championship or done well without doing a little extra than what the coach told you,” Patterson said. “I have never been successful just doing what I did in practice; I always have to go back and do more work. I do extra abs work, extra leg work, and even on Sunday’s I come in and do a little more work. The little things get me farther.”

When Patterson completes college, he has some lofty goals.

“I want to go back to Waukegan High School and be a guidance counselor and maybe coach track and field,” Patterson said. “I want to help the young people, and let them know that I have gone through the same things they have. I had a kid in high school. I was caught up in the wrong things, but I was able to make it out and able to be a success.”

Dion Martorano can be reached at 581-7944 or [email protected].