超出了限制

通过悲剧，新视角

丹尼斯·奥格登, a marketing professor at 手机买球app下载里哈伊谷分校, recalls the time she went to see 肯尼思•Keitt 她以前的学生变成了CEO, 在当地的活动上做一个主题演讲. 奥格登曾指导过许多学生和有抱负的企业家，帮助他们实现商业理念的早期阶段. 毕业一年后，看到凯特作为一名自信的商业专业人士，是一件令人难忘的事, 原点的时刻.

奥格登说:“那一刻，我觉得他是一个真正的职业球员. “Here is this business owner who used to be that student I knew at 手机买球app下载. It’s quite the journey, and I’m proud of that, even if I was just a small part of it.”

奥格登, and many others in the 手机买球app下载里哈伊谷分校 社区, know Keitt as a physically fit and kinetic individual. Someone who is always in motion and always connecting with others and opportunities.

凯特的腰部以下也瘫痪了. In 2012, after returning home from the Marine Corps and deployment in Iraq, he was in a serious car accident that ejected him from the vehicle. 他在重症监护室待了两个月，然后被转移到费城的一个康复中心，在那里他在轮椅上学会了适应新的现实.

“事故发生后的最初几周，我不知道该怎么想，”凯特说. “我有点麻木了.”

从一个体格健全的海军陆战队员到不能完成简单的任务，比如刷牙, 自己坐起来, or showering was mentally and physically draining. All of this, as he and his wife were expecting their first child.

在康复过程中，凯特睁开了眼睛，看到了残疾人生活的世界. 在保险, ensuring access to the appropriate medications and doses, to simply figuring out ways to get to and from appointments, 所有的障碍都要克服吗. 还有一种孤独感.

“一开始, 我不想接受自己的残疾,”Keitt说, 但当我这么做的时候, 我环顾四周，没有看到像我这样的人. I didn’t have anyone to talk to who could understand what I was going through.”

凯特开始怀疑自己是否也有这种感觉, then surely there were others living with disabilities who felt that way too.

“我看到了生活的两面性，”凯特说. “从健康开始, active Marine to being disabled and not being able to do much of anything for myself. But I realized what I do have is a strong mindset, 还有很多人也有类似的情况，他们没有这样的心态. And the resources available to us, I felt they just weren’t enough.”

手机买球app下载的力量

不想让任何事阻碍他, 在一次大学招聘会上与一名招生代表取得联系后，凯特抓住了在宾州立哈伊谷大学攻读商学学位的机会.

While pursuing his degree and a concentration in marketing, Keitt continued to stay active both physically and on campus. By that point, he had learned how to drive again. He got involved in Lehigh Valley’s 业务 Club, 退伍军人俱乐部, 和校园自行车俱乐部, where he used a specialized handcycle to compete in races.

In addition to his active involvement on campus, 凯特在健身房也很活跃, working with personal trainers to maintain his physical fitness. 凯特发现，这些教练并不一定具备回答特定问题的能力，也不具备对轮椅友好的锻炼习惯.

“康复后，我想继续我的独立和健身之旅,”Keitt说. “I had a personal trainer who tried to work with me, but he was uncomfortable not having the proper knowledge to assist me.”

Using his physical training background from the military, Keitt decided to begin developing his own workout routines, 在社交媒体上分享. 在收到来自残疾人社区的一些信息，请他为他们开发程序, 凯特意识到，他可以利用自己在轮椅上的亲身经历来解决这一非常明显的差距.

建立一个社区

凯特提出了ParaPer4mance的想法, 这是一个基于网络的平台，为他在利哈伊谷的另一位教授提供适合轮椅的锻炼程序, 迈克尔Krajsa. Krajsa, affectionately known to Keitt and many as “Big Mike,他在利哈伊谷教授市场营销，并担任利哈伊谷LaunchBox的教员联络员，直到2019年退休.

Keitt had made an impression on Krajsa as a student early on. Krajsa recalls reading Keitt’s thoughts on leadership in papers he turned in for class, and his willingness to seize every opportunity presented to him as a student.

“He had this magnetic personality that just lit up the campus,”Krajsa说. “He was always going around getting to know the faculty, 社区, 参加学生活动.”

忠于他的魅力, 凯特拉来了几个同学，帮他为ParaPer4mance制定一份商业计划. 该计划提出了问题和解决方案:通过数字平台，解决身体健全的人与行动不便的人在可用资源方面的差距. 目标是提供可访问性, 负担得起的健身和健康资源，以及一个让这些人可以连接到这些资源和彼此的社区.

Krajsa鼓励Keitt采纳他的计划，并将其提交给Lehigh Valley大学商业游说峰会. 比赛由 Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern PA, 让来自大里海山谷地区的大学和学院的学生向当地企业家展示他们的想法和战略商业计划, 投资者, 和商业领袖.

在六名参赛者中，凯特获得了第一名.

“赢得那场比赛给了我信心，让我开始寻求其他途径和资源来创业,”Keitt说.

有了场地比赛的拨款以及奥格登和克拉萨的持续指导, Keitt applied and was accepted into the 利哈伊谷LaunchBox. This created a pipeline to additional resources like mentorship, 孵化器的空间, 透过 企业家帮助诊所, and access to a board of directors—many of whom are entrepreneurs themselves.

“通过LaunchBox，我能够构建我预想的业务结构,”Keitt说. “The motivation and creativity were there, but now I had the structure.”

ParaPer4mance于2019年正式推出. 该网站发布的第一个视频风靡全球，来自四个不同国家的用户访问了该视频. For Keitt, it validated the need for this type of resource.

“我创办了ParaPer4mance公司，正是基于这样的能力——我能够把我从军队学到的资源和知识技能带给人们，帮助他们改善生活,”Keitt说.

今天, 凯特的重点是继续建设ParaPer4mance的社区，以及在心理健康和营养等领域的资源. 该公司目前正在开发一款移动应用程序，让用户更好地访问这些资源.

在你能拿起一个重物之前, 或者在你上班之前, 你需要精神上自我感觉良好，你需要成为最好的自己,”Keitt说. “So, 我们的重点仍然是帮助他人获得正确的心态，而其中关键的一部分就是拥有社区和支持.”

For Keitt and for those who helped encourage him along the way, 他目前的成功证明了宾州州立大学的资源网络.

“I have a saying that I share with all my students and it’s that, 不是你认识谁, 但你让谁认识你,”Krajsa说. “一旦我了解你的热情和目标, I’m the old guy who has years of experience and a 网络 that I can connect you with. And even if we don’t have the resources on this campus, we have a 网络 linking resources at all our campuses. 这正是宾州州立大学所擅长的, 肯尼是手机买球app下载社区对一个年轻人的生活和项目轨迹产生影响的一个完美例子.”