First-Year Ellison Makes Harvard Work

From her second-floor room in Thayer Hall, Brooke M. Ellison '00 looks out over the Old Yard. On most days, fellow first-years toss around frisbees or languish amidst the trees, trying to hide from Indian summer's last warm rays.

As she glances out the window toward them, the sun gleams against Ellison's face, delicately framed by long, brown, wavy locks.

Her wheelchair reclined at a 35-degree angle, Ellison is covered in a green plaid flannel blanket.

On her neck--where a man's Adam's apple would be--a clear, plastic tube extends out from underneath her high collar. The tube leads to the back of her wheelchair and connects to a large, black metal box.

Ellison, who was left a quadrapalegic after a 1990 car accident, shares her Thayer Hall room with her mom, who serves as her care-taker.

Always highly-motivated, Harvard hasn't slowed Ellison down one bit.

In the month or so Ellison has been here, she has attended the FleetCenter concert fundraiser for Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) and, yesterday, watched first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton speak at the Institute of Politics (IOP).

Ellison lists the IOP and the College Democrats as two extracurricular organizations she plans to join.

And although Ellison hasn't chosen her concentration yet, given her activity schedule, it isn't surprising to hear her list government among the possibilities.

Until she makes up her mind, the first-year is taking a solid load of requirements: Science B-15, Literature and Arts C-14, Italian A and Expos.

When picking classes, Ellison says she has to make sure her mother is at least faintly interested in the course material; in high school, Mom was known to nod off occasionally in duller classes.

Usually, however, Ellison's mother--who retired to her room almost immediately after this reporter arrived--remains her daughter's right hand--literally.

If Ellison wants to respond to a question in class, her mother raises her hand. She can also jot down key concepts, although Ellison usually relies on good listening and asking classmates for notes.

Applying Herself

As a high school senior last year, Ellison didn't plan to attend Harvard--in fact, she says she applied last year "just on a fluke."

Ellison says she hadn't thought that she could live away from home--she needs to have someone nearby 24 hours a day to monitor her respirator.

"Originally, I thought if I got the acceptance letter I'd just frame it," Ellison says. But when it arrived, excitement made Ellison unable to pass up the opportunity to attend Harvard.

"I couldn't believe it. I was absolutely on a high," she recalls. "That's when my parents decided to look into how to make this work."

"If I was going to go away, this was going to be the place," Ellison says, noting that she didn't apply to any other schools away from home.

When her family came to Boston in February to talk with Harvard officials and find out whether Ellison could logistically attend, the family was delighted to discover how accommodating the College is.

"I don't think another school could or would do whatever was necessary," Ellison says.

Though her New York school district had been concerned about having another person in every one of Ellison's classes, Harvard "was agreeable to having an adult around the whole time," she says.

Renovations to Ellison's dorm room had to be done. A new door linking hers with the hall bathroom was only one of the many changes.

The happy end result is that Ellison's best friend, who also happens to be her mother, shares a revamped Thayer 212 with her.

"We're pretty close, especially now when we're roommates also," Ellison says. "We read each other's thoughts.... It's a little scary sometimes."

"We don't have anyone else to share our personal feelings with."

In fact, Ellison says the hardest part of deciding to come to Cambridge was knowing she was splitting up her family. Her father, 20-year-old sister and 16-year-old brother are fending for themselves at home in New York.

"It's been difficult for my father to learn how to cook," Ellison observes.

The first-year says she is also sensitive to the fact that her mother is away from her husband and friends. Ellison says she has tried to fill that gap as much as she can.

"We're more on a similar level intellectually," Ellison says. "I knew that I would have to develop a role as more an adult than a child, and I think I've done that."

Life Changes

Ellison was an active dancer, athlete and martial artist six years, one month and one day ago.

But on the way home from seventh grade, a car struck Ellison, paralyzing her from the neck down and changing every aspect of her life.

"All the academic stuff I do now pretty much takes the place of all the physical stuff I did then," she says.

All the academic stuff included being involved in the history club, art history club, three or four academic teams, student government and a science research program that prepares students for the Westinghouse competition.

Ellison isn't sure what she wants to do with her life after college. Graduate school is probably in the works, but she also hopes that by that time, research may have found a cure for spinal injuries.

"I never doubt that as a possibility," she says.

Life Lessons

Ellison's summarizes her philosophy on life in three simple lessons.

"Never judge a person by what you see on the outside. It's unfair if you don't look beyond the exterior," she says.

"Never take what you have for granted, because life has a funny way of changing on you when you least expect it," she continues. "Never let anyone tell you you can't do something. Always move forward and never doubt yourself."