Evans Dean Pope, III was born on July 13, 1989, in Charlotte, NC. The first few years of his life were spent in multiple cities (Charlotte, NC and Tampa, FL) as his father's job required occasional relocation. When Evans was three years old, his mother and father relocated one last time to Nashville, TN. It was in Nashville that Evans grew up. He attended Metropolitan- Nashville Public Schools from kindergarten until he graduated from M.L. King Academic Magnet High School with academic honors in May 2007.
While in high school, Evans developed a love for track and field. During his sophomore year, his track team competed in the Tennessee Track and Field State Meet and won first place. Evans was the youngest of his teammates who competed in any of the events. His success on the track led him to become very interested in human nutrition and the human body. He made it a point to drink at least one gallon of water per day, did not drink any soft drinks, and limited his red meat consumption during track season in an attempt to supplement his physical training regimen. Evans had increasing success on the track his junior year. However, while running, toward the end of his junior year, disaster struck. He partially tore the hamstring muscles in both legs. This was a rare occurrence which led to months of physical rehabilitation. Resultingly, Evans formed a close relationship with his physicians and physical therapists.
Upon graduating high school, Evans enrolled at the University of Tennessee. He was unsure as to what his major should be throughout his freshman year. While registering for his sophomore classes, he decided to take an introductory nutrition class since he had some interest in that subject. After completing Nutrition 100, Evans declared nutrition as his major. Further planning led him to use this major as a route to medical school. He felt that the nutrition curriculum(i.e. human physiology, energy metabolism, and physiological chemistry) would not only satisfy his desire to learn about the human body, but would also offer excellent preparatory courses for medical school.
In the past three years, Evans has transformed his love for track and field into a love for the field of human nutrition. He is not totally upset that his athletic career was cut short. He strongly believes that his injury was a blessing in disguise, which led him to redirect his focus toward something that will be a blessing to others and thus provide him life-long fulfillment.
