"I felt like this could be a good bridge for athletics and Project FOCUS because there are a lot of things that both sides are unaware of. And I thought it could be important and beneficial for both sides to learn more about how each side works."
 
Makenna Martin
Sports: Beach Volleyball and Indoor Volleyball
Majors: Undergraduate degree in Mild to Moderate Disabilities; Pursuing Master's in Severe and Profound Disabilities
Hometown: Gilbert, Ariz.
 
Sometimes, sports just run in your blood. You are inherently drawn to them for a variety of reasons. Maybe parents encouraged you to try everything growing up. Or maybe you watched a sibling compete from a young age and wanted to be included.
 
When you have six members of your family compete at the college level like Makenna Martin, it's easy to understand why she would want to be included in that kind of lineage.
 
So when she was offered the opportunity to play beach volleyball and indoor volleyball at the University of Arizona, it was definitely something she knew she had to consider. Academically, she knew that her passion was working with those in Special Education and the UofA College of Education excels in that area. It was a win-win, Martin was headed to Tucson.
 
After finishing her undergraduate degree in Mild to Moderate Disabilities, Martin began work towards a graduate degree in Severe and Profound Disabilities. Part of the post-grad work included fulfilling a set number of hours working hands-on with students.
 
Enter Project FOCUS.
 
Project FOCUS (Focusing Opportunities with Community and University Support) is a model demonstration program that is designed to support access to University of Arizona's academic offerings and campus life in order to increase each student's self-reliance and employability. The program is for students with intellectual disabilities, ages 18-21, that are enrolled in Tucson Unified School District and met certain criteria.
 
As Martin was introduced to Project FOCUS, she began to realize that there was more that she could offer students in the program. And there was also more that she could give the beach volleyball team and Arizona Athletics. She had been included in sports teams from a young age and she wanted to pass that along to those students at Project FOCUS that have not had that opportunity to feel included.
 
Martin began mentoring a student at Project FOCUS named Chelsea. It could be argued that Chelsea was the biggest Arizona Athletics fan at Project FOCUS – she regularly attended men's basketball and football games and could be found loudly cheering on the Wildcats at those games. Although she wasn't as familiar with beach volleyball, Chelsea was eager to learn and be around the team. So once beach volleyball head coach Steve Walker gave his approval, Chelsea started coming to practice in the morning with Martin.
 
Martin felt that there was an opportunity to enhance Chelsea's experience with Project FOCUS by giving her an opportunity to interact with others outside of her regular classroom.
 
"You got this, you can do it!"
 
"Keep going, don't stop now!"
 
Those are just a couple of the phrases that Chelsea likes to yell to the team while practice is going on. But sometimes, that communication was a one-way street.
 
At first, many of the beach volleyball players were unsure how to approach or talk to Chelsea. Martin even admits that when she first started working in the special education field, it was an adjustment for her. But Martin explained to her teammates that Chelsea is just like them in several ways. She is roughly the same age. She has good days and bad days. Sometimes she doesn't feel like going to class, like most college students do at some point. So Martin told her teammates to talk to Chelsea just like they would their own college friends, because she is very aware of her surroundings, despite her disabilities.
 
As the team started communicating with Chelsea like a member of the team and not someone with a disability, she BECAME a member of the team and the team became HER biggest fan. At the end of practice, Chelsea leads the post-practice huddle, telling the team what word they will break the huddle on.
 
After seeing the change in her teammates and the development from Chelsea, Martin saw the opportunity to potentially turn this partnership with Project FOCUS and Arizona Athletics into something more.
 
Her hope is to be able to match more students at Project FOCUS with other areas and teams in the athletic department at Arizona. But she doesn't want to stop there. Martin would like to take these kinds of partnerships to the high school, middle school, club and intramural levels because both sides of the partnership stand to benefit in so many ways.
 
Because being included benefited Martin. It benefited Chelsea. It benefited Arizona beach volleyball. And it can benefit so many more.

"The Wildcat Journey" is a strategic focus for all students that are part of the University of Arizona and Arizona Athletics. For Martin, it was her journey from Arizona's indoor volleyball and beach volleyball teams to finding Project FOCUS that has her ready to serve the community through her career in special education.