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Show - 10 BEYOND CAMPUS FORUMFORTNlGHTLY.COM Phil of After with violence Uganda, this young man has found his place at Westminster College. In 1992, Brolin Mawejje began a journey that started in Uganda and has taken him to the United States and the mountains of Wyoming. His love for snowboarding and his vision of becoming a surgeon have led him to Westminster and to documentary filmmaker Galen Knowles. Together with help from Brolins best friend, Phil Hessler, they have laid out a plan to create a documentary about Brolins compelling story. Brolins Story Sumner Fisher Staff Reporter ,i, " Phil MU 'ij ui was one of seven children to be raised by a single Mawejje father, and he grew up in an extremely negative environment. Everything you see on TV that pictures Africa is what I grew up in, said Mawejje. He attended a boarding school where beatings and deaths were a common occurrence. At my boarding school in Africa kids die left and right. They would kill you without having a reason, he of ; said. In 2004, Mawejjes mother, who had been living in the U.S. Brolin airing out Phil of ofthe Park City halfpipe. Mawejjes time in school, he began to excel in many different sports. At first he could not speak English but he was able to connect with other students through sports. He dedicated his time to being the best he could in many different sports, includ- a traumatic an abusive family and a firsthand for the first twelve years of his life, figured out a way for him and two of his sisters to move to Massachusetts. One day a man pulled up to Mawejje in a van, saying that he had been looking for him and that he knew Mawejje had a parent in America. I thought I was getting kidnapped and remember thinking I am going to die now, said Mawejje. The next day, he boarded a plane heading across the Adantic. I showed up at the airport and had a shorts, and toothbrush. a They just sent me through security, he said. Once in the United States, Mawejje attended elementary school, where he first met Phil T-shi- rt, During ing soccer, lacrosse, wrestling and basketball. While at board- -. ' ing school in Vermont, Mawejje began to snowboard. At first he hated it, but as time went on he realized how snowboarding could become an escape from his problems. What came out of it was kind of a therapy, Mawejje said. He realized that through snowboarding he found therapy he could find nowhere else, and it allowed him to connect with others. In a way snowboarding has made me friends I could not find, he said. While in Vermont, Mawejje still stayed in touch with the Hesslers and would often spend weekends in Massachusetts. The Hesslers then moved to Jackson, Wyoming. He would live with me on the weekend and when we moved to Jackson, my family and I decided to bring Brolin with us, said Hessler. After finishing his two remaining years of high school in Jackson, Mawejje enrolled fulltime at Westminster College, a school that allowed him to follow both of his dreams. He began the program and joined the snowboard team. cal pre-medi- The Documentary Along with going to studying to become a surgeon and snowboarding, Mawejje has begun filming a documentary about his life, called Far From Home. The film is being produced by Hessler and Galen Knowles. Although the documentary is still in its early stages, Knowles said that it has huge potential. Hessler and Knowles took their idea to well-known documentary filmmakers in Los Angeles, who urged them to take their ideas as big as possible. Hessler. He struggled with culture shock and from the traumatic events of his past, which resulted with conflicts with his mother. He was kicked out of her He told me if you take this small to know what you are giving up, said Knowles. I hope that if I can find myself in this documentary, I can in- home. spired other people that have that same anger and make them realized that they have a drive inside As a seventh grader, he bounced around between local families until Susan Mygatt, a lawyer who had helped his mothe. er, took him in Shortly after, Susans husband was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and Mawejje was sent to boarding full-tim- school. them, said Mawejje. Keep an eye out for more information about Far From Home and Mawejjes story throughout the next year. i |