Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 13 No. 6 | June 2021

Marc Lewis heard Enter Sandman blare and felt Lane Stadium shake. Maroon- and orange- clad football players surrounded the Virginia Tech director of sports science in the moments before the team rushed onto the field. It was at this moment when Lewis knew he had come full circle. He thought back on his childhood, his challenges in foster care, and being homeless in nearby Roanoke, Virginia. How he served in the U.S. Army in Iraq. How before all of that his grandfather took him to the Virginia Tech football game in which Michael Vick made the ridiculous flip into the endzone against James Madison 20 years earlier. This was a moment, one of just a handful that a person has in a lifetime, that puts everything into perspective. “I just couldn’t believe that I was there based on where I was and I couldn’t believe this was real,” Lewis said of the memory of running out of the Lane Stadium tunnel. “I put one foot in front of the other for a very long time to get to that moment.” On May 15, when Lewis earns his Ph.D. from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise, that next moment arrives. “Just because we may be in a difficult position with how we’re raised or what we experience doesn’t determine where we can end up,” Lewis said. “You can achieve a lot by just being persistent over a long time.” Perseverance Lewis was born in Bluefield, West Virginia, and entered the foster care system at a young age and was in and out of homes throughout his childhood. As a teenager, he got an under-the-table job at a construction job and a local fast-food restaurant. Lewis saved up some money and, at the advice of a boss, was advised to become an emancipated minor. This opened him up to state assistance as a minor as Lewis would be considered an adult. Some time went by and Lewis wanted to get some kind of education and started going to an adult education center in Bluefield that would help him study for his GED, as his last formal education was a month of ninth grade. He walked back and forth and caught the eye of a military recruiter. This piqued Lewis’ interest. “I thought it was a way out and it seemed almost too good to be true,” he said. “You sign up and get a paycheck? I know it wasn’t much, but to me, I had no idea what to do with all the money. Plus, they paid for my GED.” Lewis hadn’t been taking classes for long, but the military wanted him to take the GED anyway to see how much more studying he had to do before passing. Lewis passed on the first try, just weeks after taking classes at the adult education center. Earning his GED opened the door to the military, which, in turn, would open the door to collegiate courses. Continued on page 20 inside.hokiesports.com 19