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WINSTON-SALEM -- You hear many times of the prototypical "student-athlete." Khendra Reid, a strong safety at Winston-Salem State, exemplifies that term.

Despite nursing a pulled hamstring, Reid is a threat on the gridiron.

"He goes the extra mile," said WSSU Head Football Coach, Connell Maynor. "He gets his weights in with everybody else and I see him in there some days when everybody's finished, he's there doing extra. Or he'll come in early and do some extra. He's a tough guy, he's a big hitter, so them wide receivers better be looking out."

Khendra's discipline on the field and in the weight room carries over to the classroom. The sophomore computer science major studies and designs search and rescue robots.

"When I was in middle school, I had to choose between being in the band or learning more about computers because I wanted a computer," said Reid. "So my parents gave me that ultimatum of choosing one or the other and I chose computers. I took one class and I fell in love with it since then, and I try learning more and more about it everyday."

Khendra takes part in the ARTSI program, which stands for "Advancing Robotics Through Social Impact." Winston-Salem State is among eight Research I schools, like Carnegie Mellon and Brown, and 15 other historically black colleges and universities taking part in the program.

"You give him a set of goals or a set of directives and he will execute and make sure that those things are done," said Elva Jones, professor and chair of the Computer Science Department at WSSU. "That kind of person is in demand whether they are going to graduate school or whether they are going directly into the industry; and if an industry, to climb the corporate ladder."

Khendra hopes to one day work for the CIA or NASA after getting his PhD. And he says that his dad has inspired him to pursue his passion for computer science and for football.

"My dad was a single parent," Reid said. "My mom passed when I was younger from cancer. So my dad stepped in and he raised me up. I mean, there's not too many single-parent fathers, especially a minority, black father who will raise their son. He played a big part in my success today."