Jessica Thompson is not one for sitting still. The Northside High School senior looks for things to do simply because being idle is not on her agenda.
“It annoys me to do nothing,” says the 18-year-old. “I cannot be lazy. Just cannot.”
Her aversion to inactivity is so great, Thompson is almost a constant blur of motion. She is a two-sport athlete at Northside while also working 20 hours a week at a local clothing store. Even adding in school and her studies, Thompson still finds time to fit in her real passion: riding horses.
With all she has going on, the NHS senior might let her grades slack, but Thompson is as vigilant about her grades as she is about her pursuit of activity. She currently holds a 3.64 grade point average and looks to at least maintain that or perhaps improve her GPA this school year. There is no going backwards because her focus is on her future after high school. Thompson plans to pursue nursing and recognizes there are challenges in regards to that goal.
“Can’t get into nursing school without the grades. It’s pretty simple. Getting a degree in nursing at Auburn is what I want to do and I have to have the grades to make that happen,” she says.
Thompson’s grades have always been above average. She admits she doesn’t find schoolwork to be very difficult, except for the math class she currently takes – it’s trigonometry, and her grades are above average there, too. Academics are number one on her priority list but sports are a very close second.
During the winter, Thompson is a member of the Northside swim team. She began swimming competitively at the urging of her friend Mary Cook, who was on the Patriots team as a freshman and recruited Thompson to join her for their sophomore year.
The 5’7” athlete had been a tennis player and avid horseback rider for many years but she had never been involved in a swim program. Gifted with natural talent, Thompson took to the sport like, well, a swimmer to water.
“It was just good right from the beginning. I prefer freestyle swimming and as much as I love it, I love being a part of the team even more. We are like a family,” she says.
When she first began swimming, Thompson was surprised by two things.
“I didn’t realize I would be as fast as I was and I learned swimming is a lot of work,” she says.
So far Thompson has participated in the freestyle 50, 100, and 200-meter races as well as the 200- and 400-meter relays. She had a personal best last season of 31.02 in the 50-meter freestyle and has a goal of shaving a few more seconds off her time to get into the 20s this season.
For Thompson, the special allure of swimming is its unique competitive structure, which allows the athlete to be a part of a team but also compete as an individual. Thompson declares she is extremely driven to succeed in sports and loves the opportunity to compete even against herself.
“I am very competitive. I hate, hate to lose. I will obsess over something and then come back and do it better the next time. If you don’t give everything, you don’t get better,” she says.
Swimming practices and meets take up a lot of Thompson’s time and sometimes she works during the holiday months at her job until 10 p.m. or later. That doesn’t leave room for much else besides school and her church youth group, but Thompson often gets up at 6 a.m. to make her way to friend’s barn for a visit with her four-legged pals. She has plans to start showing horses soon, but until swim season is over, she has to be content with a few hours of riding here and there.
Just about the time her last swim meet is held, Thompson will begin practice for her second sport. She is a member of the girls tennis team at Northside, where she lettered in the sport as a freshman. She is the number-two singles player on her team and goes after tennis just as relentlessly as she does most everything else.
She hopes her hard work both in the classroom and in athletics pays off in the form of a college scholarship. Thompson says she would happily accept academic or athletic offers to gain the opportunity to get her nursing degree.
Northside has a new swim coach this year. Sarah Bleich has taken over the program, and has no doubt Thompson could wind up next year as a collegiate athlete.
“She will be a leader and role model for the underclassmen and new swimmers,” Bleich says. “Jessica works hard and has a positive attitude. Her high GPA, determined work ethic, and her competitive nature would allow for a successful college career.”
Thompson is currently looking to take care of business as a member of the Patriots swim team by helping the team take the region title and hopefully move on to the state swim meet held February 7-8, 2014. Her goals after that are pretty simple.
“Just stay busy,” she says with a smile.
Getting to know Jessica
Family: Parents, Susan and Mark Thompson; brother, Josh
Favorite food: My dad’s barbecue
Pets: A cat and a dog
Favorite place to eat: Mongo’s
Clothes she likes to wear: XL T-shirts and Nike shorts
Favorite team: Auburn
Music she listens to: Country
Best concert she has attended: Gulfcoast Jam. I cried when Brantley Gilbert sang.
If she could spend a day with someone, who would it be: My late grandparents
Church she attends: Church in the County
Person she most admires: My cousin, Taylor Caldwell
Best thing about attending Northside High School: My friends
Academic Athlete/Columbus Valley/December 2013
Jessica Thompson
Northside High School
Columbus, Georgia
By Beth Welch
Photos by Jerry Christenson
Northside athlete always in motion
