Donnie King Jr. Talks About His Unique Sources of Motivation

By: William Devereaux

Tune into a Division I Football player’s iPod during the pregame warm-ups and what do you expect to hear? Maybe some AC/DC’s Thunderstruck for the hard rock fiends or some Lil Wayne or Drake for the Hip Hoppers. This is not the case with Senior Donnie King Jr., Slot Receiver and Return Specialist.   You could say that this 90’s kid will never let go of his childhood favorites.

When asked about his pregame music preferences, Donnie said that his two favorite Pandora stations are Disney Movie Songs and the Sleep Station.

“I listen to songs from The Lion King, Frozen and Aladdin. Along with the Sleep Station, Walt Disney helps me relax and wakes me up,” said Donnie.

There are many things that nonstudent-athletes don’t know about student-athletes, and Donnie shared what he feels is the most important aspect of a student-athlete that is often overlooked.  “Just because athletes get scholarships doesn’t mean we have it made,” Donnie remarked, “Our lives aren’t all luxury.”

Donnie mentioned that many athletes would not be able to afford admission to a university to earn a degree without athletic scholarships, especially for Hawaii raised kids like himself.

Like many athletes, sports provided Donnie with a controlled environment to explore what he could do physically and an outlet to relieve stress. “Football is controlled violence, before athletics I would always get into trouble,” said King.

Pride and appreciation are his sources of motivation. He says he is proud of his abilities and his constant need to win and he is appreciative of his father, Donnie King Sr., for sacrificing to provide for his son.

Before Donnie was on scholarship he would catch the 5 a.m. bus from Kapolei to U.H. “I would wake up my dad at 4:30 a.m. so he could drive me down the hill. He did this so I could sleep 30 more minutes,” said Donnie. “Before I was put on scholarship my dad also paid my rent for 4 months to allow me to be closer to U.H.”

With his degree in Marketing just four short months away, Donnie truly believes all those early morning risings and long hard practices were worth it.  “Athletics has taught me many skills and lessons about life, which I believe has allowed me to grow more as a person and will only better both my personal life and professional career.”