You may remember how Leroy and I got to go to Colorado Springs last fall to visit the Paralympics at the Olympic Training Center (OTC).  We tried out different sports.  A lot of U.S. athletes get to live at the OTC and train full-time.  It’s an incredible place.  Well last winter, the Paralympics judo coaches talked about me maybe going to live at the OTC.  They thought if I were training more, I maybe could be good enough for the 2012 Games in London.  I was so hoping they’d accept me.  Took several months of waiting before we found out.

The news came in March.  The day that I found out that I was accepted to live at the OTC, I was at a loss for words. I was so happy I could have cried. At that moment I didn’t know whether to sit down, stand up or run around in circles yelling in excitement. I was so excited because I knew that this was a once in a life time opportunity. Read the rest of this entry »

Episcopal Wrestling team

The brotherhood of wrestling extends far beyond the mat, and Leroy and Dartanyon found an extended family at Episcopal High School in Jacksonville, Florida.  Deeply touched by Carry On, Episcopal head wrestling coach Norm Wein showed the segment to his team, and together they desired to help.  The team of 40 wrestlers organized a Push-Up-A-Thon.  For more than a month, they trained and secured pledges for each push-up they would do in a minute’s time.  The big day came last November Read the rest of this entry »

During Leroy and Dartanyon’s senior year, the Lincoln-West High School wrestling team had 7 wrestlers. And 5 pairs of wrestling shoes. The athletes rotated the shoes in between matches. If they were a little too big or a little too small, they had to do their best with what was available. One Carry On viewer caught wind of the situation and generously donated 9 pairs of new wrestling shoes to Lincoln-West last season. Eleven kids competed on the team this year, and their new shoes propelled them to a fourth place finish in the city tournament – their highest place in the school’s history. Congratulations Wolverines!

Sorry about the hold up on the updates, but I have been swamped with written work. Lol I’m just kidding bout the written part – I’m in design school!

Life been great here in Arizona, and I love my classes.  My first term, I took Intro to Drawing and Design.  A sample assignment is to draw a picture of a square, then draw it 3d, then draw it in perspective.  It is not as challenging to me as it might be for some because my brain just works that way.

Leroy & Dylan Birthday

The other class I found fun was Intro to Game Design. In that class we learned the history of video games. Did you know the first video game was titled “Tennis for two” and it was first created in the year 1958?  That is where Pong got its idea.  For two weeks of the class, my classmates and I tested video games to study how they were made and look for glitches.  I got to play video games in class.  Sweet!

I also had a Life Skills & College Transitions class.  There actually is a lot of written work in that.  Writing is not my favorite thing.

My second term was harder.  A lot of computer classes using programs that I didn’t know.  So I had to learn to use the programs at the same time I was learning to do the assignments.  A lot of kids already knew them, but I’ve done all my design work on paper up to this point.  But I stayed late a lot to get extra help and I made it through.

As for my life outside of class, that is going really well too.  I decided not to have a roommate, and it was a good decision.  I love living by myself and having a space of my own.  I have two bedrooms and made the second room into an office where I have a drafting desk and where I do all of my design work.  I love the fact that I can go to class and not worry about a roommate eating my pork chops.  Ha ha ha.  I have made a lot of friends from all over the world, and I have them over to work on our group projects.

All my grades are good so far.  I hope to publish some of my art on this website.

Thanks for keeping up with Dartanyon and I.

Hello everyone it been a while since I have updated the site. I have a lot to talk about.

My first semester at Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland was great. I met a lot of interesting people and made a bunch of new friends. I did well in all three of my classes – Philosophy, English and Algebra. Philosophy was my favorite class by far. I love asking thinking through deep questions and issues of life.

My Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays were wonderful. I spent a lot of time with my family and got the chance to go to a Cavs game with Leroy while he was home. It was my first professional basketball game. I couldn’t really see everything that was going on down on the court, but it was a pretty cool atmosphere. It was good to witness Cleveland’s last winning season. (Thanks, LeBron!)

In my second semester of college, I took Ethics, Intro to Logic and Criminal Justice. I liked them all a lot. I am still very determined about getting my law degree, and there’s nothing that can stop me from achieving my goal.
In addition to school, I started training in the sport of judo. After my trip to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado last fall, I was inspired to give it a try. There is some cross-over from wrestling, but also a lot of new things to learn. I trained three times a week at a club that was nice enough to waive my dues. I really love it. In January, I earned my green belt. It’s a long way from a black belt but it’s a start. I made the goal of participating in Paralympics competitions one day. Little did I know that goal was closer than I thought. Keep reading!