小黄鸭导航 ISD continues a month of celebrating the graduating Class of 2023 with a profile of Akins High 小黄鸭导航 senior Elias Brown, who will be attending the University of Arizona on a full scholarship for wheelchair basketball.
After the COVID pandemic shut down his freshman year at Akins High 小黄鸭导航, Elias Brown focused his free time on what had previously been just a fun hobby 鈥 wheelchair basketball. He practiced 4-5 days a week with a coach, 鈥渁nd that鈥檚 when I started to get good,鈥 Elias says, with characteristic understatement.
Elias鈥 hard work and dedication are paying off, as he鈥檚 heading to the University of Arizona in the fall as a scholarship athlete in wheelchair basketball. His athletic goals include playing for the U.S. national team and eventually playing professionally overseas.
Elias was born with a congenital deformity in his left leg, which led his parents to make the difficult decision to have his leg amputated. 鈥淚 have been able to be active and I think that is something I wouldn鈥檛 have been able to do if my leg wasn鈥檛 amputated,鈥 Elias says.
When he was younger, Elias practiced swimming, track, soccer and many other sports with the use of a prosthetic leg. But wheelchair basketball is special for him.
鈥淏asketball means a lot,鈥 Elias says. 鈥淲heelchair basketball is a smaller community so you get to know people very well and build strong relationships鈥擨 have friends from all over the country.鈥
Even though it took him time to understand and accept that he was different, Elias has learned that his disability is really his super power.
鈥淚 like being different 鈥 being different, having a disability obviously puts you in the minority, 鈥 Elias says. 鈥淪ometimes that could be scary and ambiguous鈥ut the thing is that you are different and you can use it to your advantage in so many different ways.鈥
Elias was born in Ethiopia and was adopted when he was little. He got to return to his home country later with his family, and was able to reconnect with his biological family. 鈥淚 got to see some of my biological family there, which was super cool,鈥 Elias says. 鈥淪eeing how different America is from a country like that is very interesting.鈥
He says his parents are his biggest supporters. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know where I would be, if they hadn't supported me with everything.鈥
Elias will not only be representing the University of Arizona in the world of wheelchair basketball; he will also be paying attention to his grades. He is graduating with nearly 50 college credits that will go towards his Bachelor鈥檚 degree in Business with a minor in Marketing.
鈥淚 am very excited. I already have my dorm room and roommate picked out and am quickly meeting other people my age going to U of A as well which is very enjoyable for me,鈥 Elias says.
Parting advice: 鈥淕rades matter -- grades do matter when applying to college, to scholarships,鈥 says Elias.
Un atleta en silla de ruedas muy solicitado conoce el valor de ser diferente
El 小黄鸭导航 ISD contin煤a un mes de celebraci贸n de los graduandos de 2023 con un perfil del estudiante de 煤ltimo a帽o de la Escuela Preparatoria Akins, El铆as Brown, quien asistir谩 a la Universidad de Arizona con una beca completa para jugar baloncesto en silla de ruedas.
Despu茅s de que la pandemia de COVID paralizara su primer a帽o en la Escuela Preparatoria Akins, El铆as Brown centr贸 su tiempo libre en lo que hasta entonces hab铆a sido s贸lo un pasatiempo divertido: el baloncesto en silla de ruedas. Practicaba 4-5 d铆as a la semana con un entrenador, "y fue entonces cuando empec茅 a ser bueno", dice El铆as, con su caracter铆stica modestia.
El trabajo duro y la dedicaci贸n de El铆as est谩n dando sus frutos, ya que en oto帽o ir谩 a la Universidad de Arizona como atleta becado en baloncesto en silla de ruedas. Sus objetivos deportivos incluyen jugar con la selecci贸n nacional de Estados Unidos y, con el tiempo, jugar profesionalmente en el extranjero.
El铆as naci贸 con una deformidad cong茅nita en la pierna izquierda, lo que llev贸 a sus padres a tomar la dif铆cil decisi贸n de amput谩rsela. "He podido ser activo y creo que eso es algo que no habr铆a podido hacer si no me hubieran amputado la pierna", dice El铆as.
Cuando era m谩s joven, El铆as practicaba nataci贸n, atletismo, f煤tbol y muchos otros deportes con una pierna ortop茅dica. Pero el baloncesto en silla de ruedas es especial para 茅l.
"El baloncesto significa mucho", dice El铆as. "El baloncesto en silla de ruedas es una comunidad m谩s peque帽a, as铆 que llegas a conocer muy bien a la gente y entablas relaciones s贸lidas: tengo amigos en todo el pa铆s".
Aunque le cost贸 tiempo entender y aceptar que era diferente, El铆as ha aprendido que su discapacidad es en realidad su superpoder.
"Me gusta ser diferente; ser diferente, tener una discapacidad, te sit煤a obviamente en minor铆a", dice El铆as. "A veces eso puede dar miedo y ser ambiguo... pero la cuesti贸n es que eres diferente y puedes utilizarlo a tu favor de muchas formas distintas".
El铆as naci贸 en Etiop铆a y fue adoptado cuando era peque帽o. M谩s tarde regres贸 a su pa铆s de origen con su familia y pudo reencontrarse con su familia biol贸gica. "Pude ver a parte de mi familia biol贸gica all铆, lo que fue genial", dice El铆as. "Ver lo diferente que es Estados Unidos de un pa铆s como ese es muy interesante".
El铆as dice que sus padres son su mayor apoyo. "No s茅 d贸nde estar铆a si no me hubieran apoyado en todo", dice.
El铆as no s贸lo representar谩 a la Universidad de Arizona en el mundo del baloncesto en silla de ruedas, sino que tambi茅n prestar谩 atenci贸n a sus calificaciones. Se grad煤a con casi 50 cr茅ditos universitarios que le servir谩n para obtener su licenciatura en negocios con especializaci贸n en mercadotecnia.
"Estoy muy emocionado. Ya he elegido mi habitaci贸n y mi compa帽ero de cuarto y estoy conociendo r谩pidamente a otras personas de mi edad que tambi茅n van a la Universidad de Arizona, lo que me resulta muy agradable", dice Elias.
Un consejo de despedida: "Las calificaciones importan... las calificaciones importan a la hora de solicitar plaza en la universidad, para las becas", dice El铆as.