Britney Augustin Grateful for Opportunity to Grow at Lees-McRae
This is the continuation of a series of Body, Mind & Soul stories that highlights member student-athletes, coaches and administrators of Conference Carolinas.
BANNER ELK, N.C. - When your childhood was spent in Florida and the Caribbean Island of Haiti, attending college in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina understandably can be a jolt to the system.
Take Britney Augustin, Lees-McRae College’s record-breaking track sprinter, who will never forget the first time she saw snowflakes falling from the sky.
“The track team had traveled to Appalachian State (Boone, North Carolina) to raise money by working as ushers at their football game. Even though coach told us it might be cold, I dressed so inappropriately and was unprepared. I got soooooo cold. I was like a popsicle!”
Of course, that didn’t stop Britney from celebrating the first-ever occasion.
“Some of my teammates laughed at me when I started playing in the snow,” she said with a grin. “I threw snowballs and ran in the snow to see my footprints.”
Since then, the affable junior has adapted nicely to her new environs. In fact, she has fallen in love with the mountainous campus in Banner Elk, North Carolina, which boasts the highest elevation of any college east of the Mississippi (3,700 feet).
And her track coach, Ley Fletcher, has certainly fallen in love with the mercurial talents of Augustin.
“Britney is a very tenacious worker, not only in the classroom but on the track,” he said of his pupil, who sports a B-plus GPA. “She’s also a fierce competitor. She’s the type of athlete you need to pull back sometimes or she’ll overdo it.”
That relentless work ethic certainly has served Britney well during her young athletic career at Lees-McRae. In her first two seasons, she has obliterated five different short-distance school records -- 55 meters (7.28), 60 meters (7.82), 200 meters (25.82) and 400 meters (59.11) indoors and the 400-meter hurdles (1:00.59) outdoor.
Born and raised primarily in Naples, Florida, Augustin cannot remember a time when she wasn’t the fastest kid in school.
“I remember running around in grammar school and always being ahead of everybody,” she laughed. “I even out-ran the boys. That was pretty cool.”
Britney's life journey is a humble story about an immigrant family who sacrificed and persevered in hopes of a better life in America. Her mother, Virginia Bazil, left Port-au-Prince at the age of 24 and married her Haitian husband (Audin Augustin) in Naples.
“She moved to the United States to start a new life,” said Britney. “We spoke our native language (Creole) in our home, so when I started school I didn’t know any English.”
Her formative years were also disrupted when her family moved back to Haiti when she was two years old. She spent four years on the island before returning to Florida.
At a distinct disadvantage, she had to repeat first grade while slowly learning a new language. Her parents divorced when she was in third grade. Luckily, her maternal grandmother moved in with the single-parent family and helped raise Britney, her two older sisters and two younger brothers while her mother worked long hours away from the house.
Augustin still marvels over her mother’s ability to provide for the family.
“A single parent trying to raise five kids, she had to take on two jobs,” she recalled. “First, she worked as a manager at McDonald’s while she earned a degree at a local community college and became a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA). I don’t know how she found the time.”
Once a CNA, Mrs. Bazil juggled a grueling work schedule as a private nurse and caregiver at various senior nursing homes. She continues to work in the same capacity today in North Point, Florida and her daughter worries constantly about her mom’s safety during this COVID pandemic.
“While she doesn’t have any pre-existing conditions, I still worry about her every day. You can imagine how much stress she is under. She’s awesome; my superwoman!”
Taking a cue from her mother, Britney isn’t far behind in that category. Beyond excelling in track and a dual business/finance and marketing major, she also has worked two jobs this summer as a food server at a local country club and restaurant, logging sometimes as many as 60 hours a week.
“Part of why I’m doing it is so I won’t be dependent on her,” she said. “I’ve been able to send some money back home to pay bills.”
Britney is the first member of her family to attend a four-year college. Without a track scholarship, it would not have been possible.
“I feel so fortunate,” she added. “When I think back to how I grew up and the adversity we faced, it’s amazing how things turned out.”
She still loves to tell stories about growing up in the Everglades and regularly confronting such creatures as alligators, bears and snakes along the swamp.
“Looking back, I guess it was kind of dangerous,” Britney admits. “One night after dinner, we heard a knock on the door. My father opened it and immediately saw a huge bear staring at him! He quickly shut the door, but the bear just went crazy, making all kinds of noise.”
It was a harrowing experience she will never forget. She also recalled a time when two of her siblings were rough-housing in one of their bedrooms and they broke a window.
“We were scared to tell our parents, so we just closed the drapes and tried to hide it. A few days later, I saw a snake’s shadow next to my brother’s bed. I couldn’t tell if it was inside or outside the window. Then I realized it was inside and it escaped into our house! It was so scary.”
And, of course, the traditional residents of the Everglades: 14-foot alligators.
“We never had any confrontations with alligators, but one of my brother’s friends lost an arm when one attacked him while he was fishing.”
Now settled into the life of a college student-athlete, Augustin has become both a team and campus leader.
“Britney is very mature for her age, just an incredible person and great leader,” said Fletcher. “She doesn’t just lead by example. Britney is almost like having an extra coach on the track. She’s just so responsive to her teammates.”
The Bobcats’ track star has also become an activist of social justice. Due to her skin color, she has seen racism and discrimination first hand.
“I first experienced racism in elementary school,” she said. “I barely spoke English and some of the students were really mean to me. I remember one time when I was sitting in the lunchroom and a kid tried to get my attention. ‘Hey brown girl, I’m talking to you! Look at me!’ It really upset me, but what upset me more was that I was the one who got in trouble, not him!”
While the Black Lives Matter movement remains a societal force today, Britney said she views any progress with “mixed emotions.”
“It makes me ask ‘What am I doing to help and educate?’ However, I’m not one to ask for their respect. I’m demanding their respect.”
A born leader -- she was named a team captain as a sophomore by the Lees-McRae track team -- Augustin has helped forge a new group on campus called WOKE, which stands for Wearing Our Culture Eminently.
“Our goal is to end discrimination, educating ourselves, respecting others and thinking about what you say before you say it. We plan to meet every two weeks during classes and we stress that anybody can join.”
Britney has also been deeply touched by her Haitian culture and will always have a strong connection to her family’s roots.
“I still remember watching the news about Hurricane Matthew (2016) on TV and crying. I wanted to help.”
Despite limited outside help, the Haitian people responded admirably in the face of a natural disaster.
“What I saw is people coming together, and that’s what my family does, too,” she said with pride. “I’m very thankful to be born into that culture. I wouldn’t want it any other way. There’s just a sense of community. We treat everyone like family even if they’re not family or regardless of the circumstances.”
Augustin already has big plans for her future. She wants to utilize her business degree to help people in Haiti and other Caribbean Islands.
“I know I want to travel and start some businesses, maybe non-profits, back in Haiti and other countries in the Caribbean that need assistance,” said Britney, who also plans to pursue a MBA upon graduation. “I’m trying to build the right connections right now, so after I graduate I’ll have opportunities.”
Augustin says she’s so grateful to have found a small, nurturing atmosphere like Lees-McRae to study and grow as a person.
“It’s a Christian-based school, which I think contributes to the hospitality,” she said. “There’s a sense of family. Everybody knows everybody. The professors are like our parents. I love the small classroom sizes, which are so much better than bigger schools where the professors don’t even know your name.”
When you’re Britney Augustin, Lees-McRae’s fastest woman, activist and future entrepreneur, it’s safe to assume that many people beyond college professors will soon know her name.
Bob Rose is a longtime sports public relations executive who has worked for the San Francisco Giants, Oakland Athletics, the NFL Cardinals, Cal, Stanford and other organizations.
