After Austin Jacobo’s graduation from Permian, he’ll be giving up a sport he has played since he was 3 years old.
Jacobo, who played middle linebacker on the Permian varsity football team, will focus solely on academics when he heads to TCU in the fall.
He plans on majoring in business administration with the future goal of owning a business in the energy industry.
Jacobo said leaving football behind will be a difficult transition at first.
He still has love for the sport and is ready to give his full attention to his studies.
“I enjoyed it while it lasted,” he said.
The senior has set himself up for the next step by balancing his high school coursework with extracurricular activities and football.
Jacobo was a member of Permian’s National Honor Society and the National Society of High School Scholars.
He was also a Texas Scholar, closing out his time as a Panther with a 3.73 GPA.
Sometimes Jacobo would find himself doing homework during his lunch break to stay ahead before football practices would take up most of his day.
Eric Garcia, Jacobo’s world history teacher in his sophomore year at Permian, had a first-hand look at the dedication the linebacker had toward his studies.
Garcia said the student-athlete would come in for extra tutoring with his group of friends.
“He worked diligently all of his sophomore year for me,” Garcia said. “He was a straight-A student the entire time, very respectful.
“He’s kind of one of those kids that likes to be very thorough.”
Jacobo would take his time processing the work he would do for Garcia, mastering the analytical part of the assignments in the process.
The student-athlete said taking on business administration classes is the mission that God has given him.
He wants to provide a good future for his family.
Garcia said he can see Jacobo being a successful businessman because of his experience working with people and being successful with time frames.
Jacobo already has some background knowledge on what it takes to reach his goal because his father is the president of an oilfield company in Odessa.
“He’s very prompt, he has a set standard for himself,” Garcia said. “That’s going to really help him out.
“I definitely could see him running a business down the line and really being successful.”
Maintaining a 4.0 GPA throughout college is a strong possibility for Jacobo, Garcia added.
Jacobo will go into college with the mentality that his grades come first.
He was taught that from a young age and he believes it will help him keep things in order when he moves to Fort Worth.
As the eldest of two siblings, Jacobo hopes he set a good example for his younger sister.
He wants to see his sister do bigger things than he did over his high school career.
Although his football playing days are over, Jacobo feels like he learned important lessons in the sport that apply to everyday life.
“I know how to maintain time, when to have fun and when to get to my studies,” he said.
The consistent grade checks that come with being on the football team helped him keep track of how he was doing in each class.
Garcia believes that Jacobo showed his classmates that balancing athletics and academics can be done in successful fashion.
Toward the end of the year, Jacobo added another task to his plate in helping coordinate Permian High School Choir’s Black Magic ensemble.
In his 13 years of teaching at Permian High School, Garcia said Jacobo was one of the students that set the standard of excellence for the school.
“Kids can be highly involved, be highly successful and still make grades,” Garcia said. “It really takes a special person to do that.”
>> Follow Chris Amaya on Twitter at @OA_CAmaya
Austin Jacobo
Permian
>> Academic Rank: 39 of 792
>> Sports: Football
>> Academic bio: National Honor Society; National Society of High School Scholars; Texas Scholars; GPA of 3.73.
>> Athletic bio: Football
>> Activities: I like to fish, hunt, and golf in my free time
>> College and major: TCU (Business Administration)
>> Goals for the future: Get my bachelor’s degree from TCU and own a business in the energy industry.
>> Favorite subject: Math
>> Favorite book: The Bible
>> Favorite musician: George Strait
>> Role model: My dad, Marcos Jacobo
