{"id":9162,"date":"2022-02-03T08:28:36","date_gmt":"2022-02-03T13:28:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/?p=9162"},"modified":"2022-02-03T08:28:36","modified_gmt":"2022-02-03T13:28:36","slug":"through-the-eyes-of-a-champion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/2022\/02\/03\/through-the-eyes-of-a-champion\/","title":{"rendered":"Through the Eyes of a Champion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

EAGLE Academy Student Max Champion Gains Experience and Independence<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Everyone who meets Max Champion comes away with a good feeling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\u2019s positive and projects confidence. He smiles and shakes your hand. He looks at you when he talks, and answers questions in a clear, direct manner, with an almost unusual amount of specificity. He has an incredible memory, especially when it comes to sports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you converse with Max, you may notice slight differences about him. Maybe it\u2019s in the way he delivers his sentences, the way he\u2019ll repeat something to himself in a whisper or the way he appears to keep the conversation at a distance. But as a neurodiverse young man on the autism spectrum, he is simply processing the world a little differently than you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Max is a student in EAGLE Academy at Georgia Southern, where he is learning how to navigate these differences on his own terms. In this living laboratory of the college campus, he is not only getting the college experience, but with the help of Academy staff and peer mentors, he is also developing the skills to live and work independently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been good for me,\u201d he said. \u201cThe people there are great…they\u2019ve been very helpful to me, always keeping in touch and being on the lookout.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Practical Program<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

EAGLE Academy, now in its fourth year, is an inclusive post-secondary education program offering Equal Access to Gainful Learning and Employment (EAGLE) to students with mild intellectual disabilities. As a certified comprehensive transition program (CTP), the Academy not only provides students with academic training in their areas of interest, but also gives them extensive practical life skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would say that all the students that come definitely have college aspirations and college goals, and it\u2019s kind of just finding where they can be most successful,\u201d said Julie Pickens, Ph.D., program director of EAGLE Academy. \u201cThe end goal is for them to be able to live a self-directed, independent life. So within that, they need to be able to live on their own \u2014 cook for themselves, clean for themselves, do those types of things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the classroom, each EAGLE Academy student is helped by peer mentors \u2014 third- or fourth-year students from their focus area who help them with academics. On campus, they\u2019re also assisted by peer mentors who help them engage on a social level, accompanying them to games or events and helping them connect with campus organizations if they choose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, Pickens works with each student and their parents to make a life plan, complete with five- and 10-year goals related to academics, lifelong learning, community engagement, independent living, self-determination and career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pickens said the question then becomes, \u201cWhat can you do while you\u2019re here in EAGLE Academy to get you where you want to be?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Big Change<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Chip and Caroline Champion weren\u2019t sure what the future held for Max, their firstborn child, but they worked hard to give him all the tools he needed to succeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a child in St. Simons Island, Georgia, Max and his family traveled to Nemours Children\u2019s Hospital in Orlando, where he received several interventional therapies to help him with early language delays. He spent his entire education at Frederica Academy, where the Champions secured the help of dedicated tutors to help Max with his lessons in school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe always thrived there socially in particular,\u201d said Caroline. \u201cHe loves to be a part of something. He made friends easily and assimilated very well. And even though we weren\u2019t sure if he could always hang in there academically, we knew it was the place for him \u2014 for his mind, body and spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At home, Max enjoyed a very social environment as well, where his mother says they were \u201chaving friends over all the time and constantly going and doing.\u201d At school, he got involved with sports. He was a member of the high school baseball team, and he served as team manager for just about every other sport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe football coach sought him out to be a part of the team so the football players could realize, \u2018Hey, there are different types of people in this world. Be grateful for your gifts. You can learn something from him and he can learn something from you,\u2019\u201d recounted Caroline. \u201cHe was so loved by his teammates and so proud to be participating in varsity sports.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once Max received his high school certificate, the Champions began looking at other opportunities for him. When his mother found the program at Georgia Southern, she was ecstatic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was so much more appealing because it wasn\u2019t this huge university and it was so close to home \u2014 only a couple hours drive,\u201d she said. \u201cWe just thought, \u2018Location and size…this is going to be perfect!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Max entered EAGLE Academy with gusto. He lived in Centennial Place, a campus residence hall. He chose a dual focus in sport management and logistics, reconnected with high school friends from home, and even joined the Kappa Alpha fraternity. He did all of this in one of the most challenging years for the University and its students, right in the middle of a pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was a big change for me,\u201d said Max. \u201cI\u2019ve had a mix of online and in-person my whole year. I mean, we had to wear masks inside. There wasn\u2019t a whole lot of people walking on campus. We had to do our [fraternity initiation] online.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the challenges, Pickens and the Champions say Max is thriving. This year, he\u2019s a big brother to new fraternity recruits. He\u2019s an intern with GATA Lifestyle, Georgia Southern\u2019s sports marketing group, and he\u2019s living off-campus in an apartment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMax has shown great progress with his career readiness, his independent living skills, and I have no doubts that he\u2019s going to find a job and be successful,\u201d said Pickens. \u201cHe\u2019s done fantastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think the sky\u2019s the limit with Max with the foundation he\u2019s been able to build and sustain.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An Opportunity to Help<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Since its inception, EAGLE Academy has graduated nine students, many of whom have gone on to secure jobs and continue living independently. One graduate was recently married.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parents who didn\u2019t envision an autonomous future for their children are now seeing them strike out on their own and make their own way in the world. However, the program is still trying to find ways to include even more students, who pay the same tuition, housing, dining and fees that typical students pay, but don\u2019t have access to the same financial aid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, the price tag can be pretty big,\u201d said Stephanie Devine, Ph.D., executive director of EAGLE Academy. \u201cThe challenge we are facing at this point is most of these families were never thinking about college in the first place. They didn\u2019t think their student would have access to that kind of experience, so they didn\u2019t have a college fund set aside. And so we are running into that challenge of students who don\u2019t have a lot of means and trying to help them still get the opportunity here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Devine says the program depends on support from donors to their EAGLE Academy foundation account (GS0014), which helps offset costs for its students. It also depends on relationships with area businesses who can provide internship opportunities for students, a key part of their training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A College Kid<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

On a typical Tuesday morning, Max meets with his peer mentor for life skills training and to touch base with him on his schedule. He is extremely regimented. Monday, Wednesday and Friday he\u2019s in his focus area classes. Tuesday and Thursday morning he meets with Pickens and his peer mentor, and in the afternoon goes to his internship, where he uploads videos and tags them for search and engagement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rest of the time? He hangs out with friends, goes to fraternity meetings and events, plays a few rounds of golf at the Georgia Southern course and enjoys college life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m really excited about life,\u201d he said. \u201cI love my life right now and I\u2019m just excited for more life coming up in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI like being the college kid,\u201d he added. \u201cIt\u2019s a good time.\u201d \u2014 Doy Cave<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EAGLE Academy Student Max Champion Gains Experience and Independence Everyone who meets Max Champion comes away with a good feeling. He\u2019s positive and projects confidence. He smiles and shakes your hand. He looks at you when he talks, and answers questions in a clear, direct manner, with an almost unusual amount of specificity. He has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":9165,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[67],"class_list":["post-9162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-winter-2022"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9162\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}