It's good to meet everyone here that loves college hoops like I do and I've been following Indiana a lot more lately since we have family there and I would love nothing more than some sort of way to move them to that area. Primarily because it's a cradle of basketball and so close to so many teams. But also because of how I've gradually become a bigger and bigger fan of IU basketball over the last couple years. This post will be kinda long but I felt compelled to share my story here because I've been incredibly depressed lately esp with the season winding down and feeling like it's hopeless to be able to properly move forward in life and get my family to Indiana.
When I was 2 years old, I fell from a 2nd-story window and hit my head and developed epileptic and subsequent spectrum disorder symptoms, causing me to convulse while fully conscious and a feeling of needing to constantly be moving and pacing in order to not move my arms so much. I was made fun of in school for doing my best to control my convulsions and the teachers could tell that something was odd, though my first grade teacher did not understand well and frequently would embarrass me in front of the class while I was trying to control my movements and not distract the fellow students. I have suffered from problematic epilepsy since 2008 when I began to develop memory issues and a loss of the ability to use language and math for minutes on end and then developed severe epilepsy in 2012 with serious loss of consciousness and major seizures with full convulsions and the condition continues to become more and more troublesome. Constant seizures are a way of life and as such I am not properly able to provide for my family and overcoming these episodes has proven incredibly difficult, but I am very fortunate in that I have had some amazing support through these last several years.
As I became increasingly saddened by my struggles, I decided to reach out to those who help me get through my day and relax, focusing my thoughts on something constant that can ground me and make my episodes less frequent. The sports world, particularly college basketball has been that constant that keeps me calm when other things can’t. To my amazement, after I began writing to the schools and created a twitter handle, I started to get jerseys in the mail…it was a magical, overwhelming show of compassion that brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it.
Even though I still don't have an IU jersey yet, I want to thank you dearly from the bottom of my heart, I am eternally grateful to your program and fanbase, and I would love to keep this rolling and gain an even greater ability to connect with people who face the struggles of epilepsy. After I started to receive jerseys, it gave me an idea. The outpouring of kindness from these schools is nothing short of a miracle for me. To date, I have received 269 of the 357 D1 jerseys, now 75% of the way there. I am attempting to unite all of college basketball to raise awareness for epilepsy and what these schools do for so many who are fighting through it, especially in terms of research and students who move on to help individuals with epilepsy try to live a better life, or in some cases they constantly save people’s lives on a daily basis. It has been wonderful to see this idea come to fruition and completing this collection is going to help so many others to learn that their struggles can be overcome with the help of the efforts of these schools.
Ultimately, as I receive the remaining jerseys and gain enough financial ability, my goal is to be able to move my family to Indiana and go to games in the area since there are so many close by. Sharing stories, meeting other people impacted by epilepsy, helping them stay positive, and being courtside at games all over the place (you never know where I might pop up ;-). Especially at IU & Assembly Hall, one of the most important cradles of college basketball I want to help people not be afraid, and to educate other people that aren’t impacted by epilepsy about how to support those who are. This would be a dream come true and I hope that there is a way to make this happen one day!
My twitter is: @358jerseys4hope
I'd love to have you follow me and interact as much as possible!!
From my 2 brain surgeries a few years ago:
Still recovering in 2022 but trying to help people stay positive:
Y'all are awesome and I continue to become more and more of an IU fan. I think the team is gonna be quite good next season! Hopefully I can watch a game in person over there one day! The Big Ten atmospheres look so much more vibrant than our Pac12 ones here and there is just so much more college basketball close by! I'll make sure to be active here as it seems like a really fun group!
It's good to meet everyone here that loves college hoops like I do and I've been following Indiana a lot more lately since we have family there and I would love nothing more than some sort of way to move them to that area. Primarily because it's a cradle of basketball and so close to so many teams. But also because of how I've gradually become a bigger and bigger fan of IU basketball over the last couple years. This post will be kinda long but I felt compelled to share my story here because I've been incredibly depressed lately esp with the season winding down and feeling like it's hopeless to be able to properly move forward in life and get my family to Indiana. When I was 2 years old, I fell from a 2nd-story window and hit my head and developed epileptic and subsequent spectrum disorder symptoms, causing me to convulse while fully conscious and a feeling of needing to constantly be moving and pacing in order to not move my arms so much. I was made fun of in school for doing my best to control my convulsions and the teachers could tell that something was odd, though my first grade teacher did not understand well and frequently would embarrass me in front of the class while I was trying to control my movements and not distract the fellow students. I have suffered from problematic epilepsy since 2008 when I began to develop memory issues and a loss of the ability to use language and math for minutes on end and then developed severe epilepsy in 2012 with serious loss of consciousness and major seizures with full convulsions and the condition continues to become more and more troublesome. Constant seizures are a way of life and as such I am not properly able to provide for my family and overcoming these episodes has proven incredibly difficult, but I am very fortunate in that I have had some amazing support through these last several years. As I became increasingly saddened by my struggles, I decided to reach out to those who help me get through my day and relax, focusing my thoughts on something constant that can ground me and make my episodes less frequent. The sports world, particularly college basketball has been that constant that keeps me calm when other things can’t. To my amazement, after I began writing to the schools and created a twitter handle, I started to get jerseys in the mail…it was a magical, overwhelming show of compassion that brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it. Even though I still don't have an IU jersey yet, I want to thank you dearly from the bottom of my heart, I am eternally grateful to your program and fanbase, and I would love to keep this rolling and gain an even greater ability to connect with people who face the struggles of epilepsy. After I started to receive jerseys, it gave me an idea. The outpouring of kindness from these schools is nothing short of a miracle for me. To date, I have received 269 of the 357 D1 jerseys, now 75% of the way there. I am attempting to unite all of college basketball to raise awareness for epilepsy and what these schools do for so many who are fighting through it, especially in terms of research and students who move on to help individuals with epilepsy try to live a better life, or in some cases they constantly save people’s lives on a daily basis. It has been wonderful to see this idea come to fruition and completing this collection is going to help so many others to learn that their struggles can be overcome with the help of the efforts of these schools. Ultimately, as I receive the remaining jerseys and gain enough financial ability, my goal is to be able to move my family to Indiana and go to games in the area since there are so many close by. Sharing stories, meeting other people impacted by epilepsy, helping them stay positive, and being courtside at games all over the place (you never know where I might pop up ;-). Especially at IU & Assembly Hall, one of the most important cradles of college basketball I want to help people not be afraid, and to educate other people that aren’t impacted by epilepsy about how to support those who are. This would be a dream come true and I hope that there is a way to make this happen one day! My twitter is: @358jerseys4hope I'd love to have you follow me and interact as much as possible!! From my 2 brain surgeries a few years ago: Still recovering in 2022 but trying to help people stay positive: Y'all are awesome and I continue to become more and more of an IU fan. I think the team is gonna be quite good next season! Hopefully I can watch a game in person over there one day! The Big Ten atmospheres look so much more vibrant than our Pac12 ones here and there is just so much more college basketball close by! I'll make sure to be active here as it seems like a really fun group!
