The Runner
Malachi Bostic-Wattley
Senior, Landon School
Malachi Bostic-Wattley is an undisputed track star at Bethesda’s Landon School. Captain of the outdoor track team, he has blown away school records in the 4×100-meter relay, excelled in 400-meter and 800-meter races and competed in the U.S.A. Track and Field Junior Olympics in 2012. A native of St. Croix, he earned a spot on the U.S. Virgin Islands National Track and Field Team. And at press time, he was being heavily recruited by colleges.
The Bethesda resident simply loves to run. “If I’m in a bad mood,” he says, “I go for a jog.”
But there’s much more to this 18-year-old than a penchant for running fast. Charismatic and a “quiet leader,” he’s a role model to other students without trying to be one, says Harry Murphy, dean of students at Landon’s Upper School.
“He just has this way about him of getting others to do the right thing in a fun-loving, carefree way,” Murphy says.
An example: Landon students had taken to social media to talk trash about students from a rival school in the lead-up to a football game, according to Murphy.
At a schoolwide meeting,Malachi urged his peers to stop posting negative messages and focus instead on cheering for Landon’s team.
In the classroom, other students want to emulate him, says art teacher Thanasi Papapostolou, who has taught Malachi in architecture classes. A gifted artist eager to take on challenging projects, Malachi is “persistent and holds realistic goals for himself,” Papapostolou says.
Malachi also seizes opportunities to encourage others. He recalls a freshman having a rough time adjusting to life in the Upper School and being picked on by other students. Malachi invited the freshman to join him at the senior lunch table. The younger student now seems more confident and, to Malachi’s delight, has signed up for the track team.
“I don’t like to see other people in pain,” he says. “It’s one of the worst emotions we have as humans.”
It’s a philosophy that guides Malachi as vice president of the Multicultural Student Alliance, a club at Landon that promotes diversity and tolerance.
“We all have to respect that thing [that] someone else brings to the table,” Malachi says.
