Miah Massey Hopes To Follow In LeBron's Footsteps

Watching the dramatic Game 7, Miah Massey was nearly as tense as the night last October when she introduced LeBron James at a University of Akron event featuring Michelle Obama. “I was confident the night before,” says Massey, an eighth-grader at Akron East Middle School. “But when I saw her, I got nervous and kind of had a fangirl moment.” Joining the LeBron James Family Foundation’s Wheels for Education program as a third-grader, Massey is a member of its Akron I Promise Network. Upon graduating high school, she will be one of the foundation’s first students to attend the University of Akron on a four-year scholarship.

I was over at my friend’s house watching the game. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. People were saying the [Cavs] weren’t going to win, and I was kind of upset by that. It didn’t faze [LeBron]. He knew he was going to win. It was exciting to see him holding the trophy. He’s a kid from Akron just like the rest of us. If we try hard, we can end up in his same position. This makes me see that I can do a lot. When I think I can’t do something, I look at my [I Promise] bands, and I try harder. The scholarship has been helpful because my mother has two kids and paying for [college] for both of us would have been impossible. LeBron James inspires me a lot. He has succeeded at something that a lot of people have dreamed of. Now that we have won, it’s going to make kids try to get where he is. If he can do it, they can.