Dominic's Pursuit of Passion and Education - AAO

In my wildest dreams, never fathom that we'd be living through a year and a half of a global pandemic.  A year of loss for hundreds of thousands of families and a year of firsts for mostly everyone and a new norm in every aspect of the life.

His name is Dominic DeAngelo Jaden Humm, and by God's design, he was gifted to me as his mother.  In summary, Dominic is a 6'1" point guard at Millard West High School in Omaha, Nebraska. He was recently honored by being been named the Millard West Player of the Year and selected from the coaches in Nebraska to play in Nebraska All-Stars Game. He has been a starter on his AAU basketball teams for several years and a three-year varsity starter for his high school team. He has a 3.90 GPA and enrolled in nearly 100%  of Advanced Placement classes.  He has been working hard towards a goal of playing D1 college basketball then onto playing professionally someday.  He wants to become a successful Basketball professional and earn a Psychology Doctorate Degree to help his family and serve the community. But then the Global Pandemic and life-critical illness threatened to destroy his hopes, dreams, and basketball career.

Almost one year ago in April 2020, Dominic became ill.  He had fatigue, chest pain, and weakness as a mystery virus started gaining potency with his body.  It escalated to fever and chills, then a sore throat.    We feared the worst, COVID-19, but was relieved and terrified that he tested negative with no answers to how he was feeling.  After multiple visits and tests, he was diagnosed with Epstein-Bar virus (EBV), Mononucleosis. 

It was bum news as the summer AAU season and tryouts began, and despite how he felt, he tried out.  That was a small triumph short-lived, as COVID-19 began to ravish our nation, economy crashed, schools shut down, and summer AAU basketball became a minuscule and non-event.

Early June, Dominic, still not feeling 100% but significantly better, started feeling heart palpitations, trouble breathing, and anxiety to the extent that once again we found ourselves in the Emergency Room and to our dismay and surprise, Dominic was admitted, with high blood pressure, low oxygen, heart arrhythmia, and out of whack "troponin" levels" that needed to be observed.

We had the best team of heart specialists, doctors, and hospital staff who worked tirelessly trying to figure out what was wrong.  They were leaning towards a dire diagnosis of Myocarditis, inflammation of the heart muscle. Severe Myocarditis weakens your heart so that the rest of your body doesn't get enough blood. Clots can form in your heart, leading to a stroke or heart attack.  This ominous threat brought my son's life to a halt.  It rocked his universe and broke him and me watching him deal with this major shift in his life.  This diagnosis made real would mean that he would no longer be able to play Basketball.  It drove me to my knees.  It was unacceptable and unbelievable. 

Making a long pain aching but victorious story short and to the glory of God, the blood pressure became manageable, heart palpations a null issue, and finally troponin levels aligned though slightly elevated. After 3 weeks, the doctors ruled that the troponin levels tests were deemed inconclusive due to his experience of ESV.  So, he was released from the hospital and with a plan to get him back to his activity level and the AAU team.  But, that victory was short-lived, as his entire family was victims to the infamous Covid-19, and I became unemployed.

Nonetheless, Dominic is a warrior, a survivor and an athlete with the highest respect for the sport.  He worked hard, tirelessly, with commitment and dedication that resulted in him not only recovering but recovering to the point that he became a leader in his high school basketball team and led them to state championship playoffs, something that hadn't been done for decades.  He maintained a high GPA and scored well on the ACT.

It has been an uphill challenge, but Dominic doesn't take life for granted and continues to fight for his dreams of Basketball at the collegiate level and education as a Doctor of Psychology.  Covid-19 has impacted and placed the 2021 class at a disadvantage.  Per an NCAA Student-Athlete Well Being Survey student-athletes suffering through the pandemic have the following impact: 

Mental health concerns 
Barriers to training
Living and learning environments
Academic experiences
Sport/championship cancelations
Maintaining team connections 
Impact on the academic timeline and career planning 
Lack of Recruiting opportunities
 
All things considered provided a mountain of obstacles in accomplishing and pursuing his dreams.  Experience Academy in Tennessee reached out with an opportunity.  And upon advisement from mentors, advisors, trainers and counseling, Dominic accepted this opportunity to do Post-Graduate Basketball and focus solely on his basketball skills and leadership at Experience Prep Academy, which will provide him with elite basketball training coupled with one of the most rigorous schedules in the Post-Grad/Prep world playing the roughest and toughest competition that there is.  This program provides leadership and character development courses, one-on-one mentoring, and one-on-one coaching. Experience Academy will create a brand for him to get him college D1/D2 scholarships or even international basketball contracts.   This experience will provide him the best chance out there to reverse the negative impact of Covid-19, his illness and setting him up for success in Pursuit of his goals and achievement.

Unfortunately, this opportunity and program are not funded by the Government, so there are no scholarships, federal aid, or school loans to help him pay for the program.  This is where you can HELP.  The program's cost is $23-$27,000 and up to $30,000, including housing and more than including food and nutrition.  Please support this well-deserving young man in achieving his goals and changing his life trajectory by becoming a DOMINIC - AGAINST ALL ODDS - AAO Sponsor.  

I would love nothing more than to tell my son that his funds are available from people who care about his future as a young black male who will pay it forward however he can.  And there is no doubt in my mind that DOMINIC will succeed.  Thank you in advance.  Every little bit helps!