Erica Bookout is small in stature and small in voice, but give her a box and a microphone and she will bring a crowd to its feet.
Named Special Olympics Virginia's Athlete of the Year in 2013, she is also a Global Messenger and competed in the 2014 Special Olympics USA Games. She earned a standard high school diploma, needed a 16.5 on the ACT to get into Radford University and scored a 17, then spent five years there as a full-time student and walked across the stage with a Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies. Erica is one of very few Special Olympics Virginia athletes to finish a regular education college program.
Her mom calls her the tortoise: slow and steady, never quits, always finishes the race, exactly the person you want holding the rope.
In her words
“Goals are worth fighting for! They are worth the extra time it takes to reach them and they are worth the hard work it takes to beat the unexpected obstacles.”