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| Chelsea Jackson dribbles the ball down the court against a defender. The team's leading scorer, Jackson averaged 13 points and 3.9 rebounds per game during the regular season. She also had a team-high 98 assists. Hesston College women's team, with a record of 17-9, competes in the first round of playoffs this weekend in Overland Park, Kan. |
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| Chelsea Jackson (left) and her roommate Alex Roth can even communicate while Alex brushes her teeth. |
February 25, 2004
by Melanie Zuercher
To see Chelsea Jackson on the floor
of a basketball court with her Hesston College teammates, you'd never
know that, beyond her talents as a basketball player, there is anything
unusual about her.
The freshman point guard from Thomas,
Okla., is the Larks' leading scorer. She was named Oklahoma Female High
School Athlete of the Year as a senior at Thomas-Fay-Custer High School.
And she is deaf.
Two of Jackson's cousins played
basketball for Joel Kauffman, the women's coach, and her older sister,
Stephanie, also attended Hesston, as did Chelsea's parents, Bill and
Carolene, and her older brother, Matt. "I kept hearing about this Chelsea
Jackson," Kauffman says. He went to watch her play four times in her
senior year.
Jackson could have joined the University
of Oklahoma's women's basketball team as a walk-on, but she chose Hesston
with little hesitation, "because of all the wonderful things I heard
about it," she says. "Hesston has a student/teacher relationship that
not very many other schools have-a family atmosphere where everyone
takes care of each other. And because of the coach, I felt like this
was a great place to play ball."
"I wondered how it would work,"
Kauffman confesses. "How would I communicate with her on the floor?
How would she hear things during games?
"She is one of the most intuitive
players, if not the most, I've ever seen," he continues. "She picks
up things on the floor incredibly quickly. And usually she's looking
at me when she knows I need to be talking to her."
Everyone who knows Chelsea says
she is "amazing" at reading lips. Says freshman forward Jenny Boyts,
"She is able to communicate from across the court. Plus it helps that
she has played basketball for such a long time [since 5th grade]. She
knows so much about this game that it is very easy to play with her."
Adds freshman guard Sarah Kauffman,
"Chelsea has a great sense of humor and makes it easy for anyone to
have a conversation with her."
Not only her teammates talk about
how easy it is to relate to Jackson. Her roommate, Alex Roth, says,
"Sometimes I just forget that she is deaf, because we have completely
normal conversations, although I do notice it when I come in late and
I can make all the noise I want and she never stirs. Chels and I communicate
by talking. As long as we are face to face, there is really no difficulty.
Sometimes, we even talk when I'm brushing my teeth-she can still understand
me with a mouth full of toothpaste! She can read from the side, too.
"When I knew I was going to have
a deaf roommate, I realized that we couldn't have late-night in-the-dark
talks," Roth continues, "but I also knew that there would be many things
I would learn. Plus, Chelsea was described to me as an amazing person.
Why would I pass up that opportunity?"
"In my high school, everyone just
knew how to make sure I got everything," Jackson says. "The majority
of my classmates grew up with me since kindergarten and even pre-school.
It's been challenging for me to go with big groups everywhere, because
it's hard to keep up with everyone. I've gone to Newell's [local all-night
diner] or out to eat with small groups, and it's a little bit easier.
I think everyone is realizing they need to make sure I see their lips!"
Jackson says she is enjoying Hesston
socially, academically and spiritually. She is taking Biblical Literature
this semester. "Oh my word, I have really loved that class big time,"
she says, "because of how much we focus on the Bible and really look
into every little detail. It has helped me with my relationship with
God and helped me realize how we never know what happens next. Just
focus on today-don't worry about every little thing."
Jackson sits at the front of the
class in order to be able to read the professor's lips, and sometimes
gets people to take notes for her. She is majoring in pharmacy-"I love
chemistry, I love to help people, and I love to learn big words."
What she loves most about being
at Hesston is "I can make it to class in like four minutes. Not really-I
just love the atmosphere here. No matter where you go, everyone says,
'Hi, Chelsea, how are you?' It's just amazing. Not very many schools
have people like we do at Hesston, who will just talk to you no matter
what."
Melanie Zuercher is a free-lance writer in Hesston, Kan.