Different From What is Usual
On February 2, 1998, Justin Christensen was born. A bright and typical child was born, with no worries for his life ahead of him. Who is Justin? And what is his relevance to Eisenhower? How did he impact our school through his experiences, as a boy who was once in these halls.
Justin was a typical toddler, who lived quite normally. However, at age five, he began to frequently fall, and would have trouble getting up from the floor while playing. As things became much more difficult for him to manage, his family also began to notice that he was developing large calf muscles. With suspicions for Justin's health, his family sought out for help. With several tests and bloodwork, it was discovered that Justin had Muscular Dystrophy. Not only was it Muscular Dystrophy, it was Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, which is the worst kind of MD. There is no cure for it.
DMD is quite unique in its own way. This disease is only carried by women and also, only diagnosed in boys. The boys who are diagnosed with DMD typically pass from it between the ages of 19 to 25 years old. Once being diagnosed, Justin's health only continued to deteriorate. He went from being completely mobile, to having complete dependency on his wheelchair in under ten years. Within those ten years, Justin and his younger sister Rachel, had lost their father in death, and their mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Justin was also a patient at Children’s Village, and was chosen as a Miracle child for Eisenhower’s Mr. Ike pageant. Years later, his younger sister became a Mr. Ike coordinator two years in a row. With these two siblings and their mother, they very heavily advocated for other children with disabilities, and raised money through several fundraisers sponsored by Muscular Dystrophy foundations.
Although Justin had many hardships, he never used these situations and conditions to affect who he was as a person. Who was he? Justin was a student who attended Eisenhower. Not just a student, but a respectable and well known student within the school. He had an incredible love for reading, and graduated with the top ten percent of his class, ending high school with a GPA of 3.56. He didn’t take any special classes, but actually attended honors and AP classes in History, Math, Chemistry, and Calculus. Only needing 22 credits, Justin ended with 28. With this amazing intelligence, many students admired him for his smarts, as well as his heart.
Through such accomplishments in his life, he also taught many people that there is a large difference between special needs and special education. Justin had his troubles, as well as his needs. His needs being things such as his wheelchair, his elevator card, and having assistance while getting around.
When it came to special education, he did not need a single class or altered learning environment. With all of his smarts, he completely passed his fellow peers by 90 percent. His intelligence truly was a large part of him. So much so that his classmates rarely saw him as a boy with a disability, or as the boy who was in a wheelchair. All they saw was Justin, a young man, who had a large heart and an incredible brain.
After graduating from high school, he enrolled in YVCC. Through his years as a student, he had complete control of his grades and education. He cared so much about his education, that up until the day he died, according to Mrs. Benoit, “He asked me to turn in his homework just a few hours before he passed away. He took education seriously and never once used his medical condition as an excuse for self pity.”
His connection to Ike have always been here. Even though you don’t think about it on a daily basis, Justin had a huge impact on the way Eisenhower has adjusted and accommodated those with disabilities. He was a huge advocate for seeing so much farther than the disability one might have, but looking at who they were and who they came as. He broke a lot of stigmas that came with being a person who had a disability, and the stereotypes that followed. Justin had such a strong love for books, so when he passed in 2017, the staff and his family thought nothing could be better, then something related to the library here at Ike. There, we have been left with a little piece of Justin. The bench right outside the library doors is dedicated to him. Above, a plaque for him, written by Justin’s mother’s quotes, “ Books took Justin where his body couldn’t go.” Books were his home away from home. He lives through every page of every book, wandering through the setting, reading about the plot, and enjoying the ending.
Justin passed on November 30th, 2017. His memory lives on in many people's hearts, but also through the places he once loved. After his memorial, his family went to Waldron Island, in the San Juans Islands. There, they left a “message in a bottle”, with his memorial flier within it. Why Waldron Island? This was one of Justin’s favorite places to visit. His family left the bottle, and on March 3, 2023, Justin’s family received the bottle back. With a letter stating that since the years passing by, the bottle had been discovered by those on the island. Not only was it found again, it was found on the farthest part of the island, which only showed that Justin had taken a trip down the island, as he did when he was still alive. His memory, living forever through many things, his bench, his plaque, the bottle, and his family. Ike will cherish his memory even 20 years down the road. So the next time you’re heading past the library, say hello to Justin, and follow him into the world of books that his heart will eternally live in.
Mrs. Benoit said it best, “Justin was “SPECIAL” yes but in the true definition of the word according to the Oxford English Dictionary: Better, greater, or otherwise different from what is usual.”
