At the end of his freshman year, Palmetto High senior Elijah Bogdansky suffered a traumatic brain injury.
“I was in PE playing football and I collided with a varsity player,” he says. “When we collided all of his (front) teeth were knocked in and I got a really bad concussion.”
Bogdansky says they weren’t trying to tackle each other.
“It was a freak accident,” he says. “They just considered it a concussion at first. They sent me back to school in two days.”
But brain injury symptoms worsened and he ended up missing the rest of the year and spent his entire sophomore year homebound. Even now, he takes four classes at Palmetto and two at home.
He can’t play contact sports. And math is now challenging although it used to be a strength.
“I have problems with cognitive exertion in general so I use strategies,” he says. “Like doing school work. If I’m writing an essay, I write for five to ten minutes and then I take a break.”
He says the experience has taught him a lot about himself; what he can do and how far he can push without bringing on problems like headaches and double vision.
But don’t feel sorry for him. Despite overwhelming challenges, Bogdansky has a 4.0 GPA, takes Advanced Placement classes and has strong SAT and ACT scores.
He’s earned over 1700 community service hours, an extraordinary number. Many are from being on former Pinecrest Mayor Cindy Lerner’s Youth Advisory Council.
“Service gave me purpose at a time when I couldn’t do the things I was used to,” he says. “I took charge of the team. I started a movie night to raise money for cancer.”
He was the Captain/Co-Captain for two or three years of the YAC’s Relay for Life team.
Bogdansky says YAC was a valuable opportunity to learn about the community and make connections for his own other service endeavors.
“I started a five-person band, ‘True Fuse’ – I play guitar and am the lead singer,” he says. “We play a lot of community events including headlining Earth Day.”
The band’s focus is to give back to the community through their music.
“We have a strong emphasis on the environment, and just making the world a better place,” he says.
He’s also the founder and president of Palmetto’s Fishing Club.
“Conservation is a club concentration and so is education,” he says.
Last year, Bogdansky collected more than 200 items for the victims of the Ecuador earthquake, including canned goods, tents, flashlights and batteries. Throughout high school he’s conducted collections for the Chapman Partnership for the homeless.
“I’ve taken everything from shoes to school supplies, Halloween costumes, personal items, housewares, whatever is needed,” he says.
Bogdansky has brainstormed with doctors, neuro-psychologists and educators to improve return-to-learning strategies and programs in schools for students with brain injuries. He’s working on the possibility of new legislation or an addendum to the existing Concussion Bill.
He started a concussion support group “Mind Your Own Brain.”
For college, his potential majors include business, political science, entrepreneurship, and music. His list includes Brown, Rice, Duke, The Kelley School of Business at Indiana, Babson, University of Florida, University of Miami, NYU, and Rollins.
Before his injury, he planned on becoming a biomedical engineer and doctor.
“After the injury, a lot of things that came so naturally before became hard. Music came a lot more easily,” he says. “The injury gave me a lot of depth to draw from, inspiration, and a lot more creativity. I’m interested in songwriting and performance.”
Linda Rodriguez Bernfeld
