WAUKEE, Iowa — Your attitude can shape your entire life.
"I try to turn my disadvantage into an advantage and I've done a pretty good job of that," Waukee senior Evan Correll told Local 5.
If you need an anecdote to prove the effect of attitude, just look at Correll.
He was born with a rare condition called Caudal Regression Syndrome. His lower spine did not fully form before birth and his lower body stopped developing. He is 1 in 100,000.
"For a while, I did have the 'woe is me' mindset but one day it hit me hard. I'm tired of this. I want to do something. This is boring," Correll said.
Confined to a wheelchair, Correll changed his mindset and he changed his life. It started with wheelchair basketball.
"I'd always want to race people after practice in the chairs because they were really fast," Correll recalled. "I've always wanted to compete and go really fast in the chairs."
So racing was the next logical move. Now he races in the 100, 200 400 and 800-meter races for the Warriors.
"He brings a lot of excitement to practice and to our meets," Waukee Head Track coach Brent Heitland said. "He's a great guy to have around. He is just like a normal guy, just like a normal member of the team."
"I didn't want that 'woe is me' mindset. I wanted the 'I'm just like everybody else' mindset because I am. I'm not any different," Correll said.
Except Correll is different. Most high school seniors do not own four state records.
"We went to our first outdoor meet and he wheeled all four events and broke the state record in all four events all in one night," Heitland said. "That was pretty impressive to see."
Evan did not let his condition write his story, and, because of that, he is rewriting the state's history book.
"Sitting around the house and thinking about what could've been, or not doing anything and then looking back one day and think I should've done that, is going to haunt you," Correll said. "If you have an opportunity to change your life for the better, take it."
He did and it worked out pretty well. Correll is currently eighth in the world in the 200-meter race for his category and he will be at the Paralympic trials this summer up in Minneapolis.
After that, he will attend Illinois to study aerospace engineering.