Max Zepeda isn’t your regular college student studying sports journalism. In a matter of five months, he’s been in Dallas for the Big 12 championship game. He’s been to Atlanta for the Peach Bowl, and he’s even took a weekend trip to Cincinnati to call an Arizona State men’s basketball game. I forgot to mention that Max has a high functioning condition of autism.
When Max was a child, he received an almanac, and from this almanac young Max remembered every Superbowl winner, loser, mvp, and location of the game. He could do this all the way up to Superbowl 45, which was the most updated version by the way. As amazing as that was, Max says that his parents realized there was something else going on when he wouldn’t talk about anything else but sports. After going through a series of therapies and programs he was unexpectedly diagnosed with a high functioning condition of autism.
Once Max was diagnosed his way of life changed especially his schooling. For the first 10 years of his life Max went to a public school like most children. From the time he was diagnosed up to when he went to college Max was home-schooled. With that being said, Max is grateful for his situation. He pointed out that yes he has his own challenges, but there are people with autism that have a harder time living the quality of life that he does.
When it was time to apply to colleges he believed that ASU would be an amazing fit. He says this because of the opportunities ASU would provide such as being at a school with Division one athletics while being on a downtown campus which was small enough so that he didn’t feel like a grain of, “sand in the Saharan desert. Once he landed in Phoenix, he felt comfortable in the big city, he did come from Houston after all. One thing he wasn’t sure about was what his college experience was going to be like. In fact, he vividly remembers people telling him that his first couple years of college would be similar to going to a public high school. Well, he didn’t have that experience to fall back on. He was able to find his comfort zone by getting involved with clubs like Blaze Radio and the Walter Cronkite Sports Network.
Through his journey at Cronkite, Max has been interested in a lot of potential pathways. These include play-by-play, sports journalism, and even video storytelling. I asked Max what he would want his career to be remembered for. With his answer I learned everything I needed to know about Max. It’s crazy because he didn’t even answer the question. He immediately described how much of a cut-throat business journalism can be and he ended by saying that he wanted to be remembered for his character, not the awards or stories he told but how he was as a person is what mattered most to him. I’d like to say as long as there more people that think like Max not just in journalism but in the world, then the world will be in a better place.
