Jewell Lloyd

Jewell Loyd is a dynamic WNBA star who plays for the Seattle Storm hailing from Lincolnwood, Illinois, where she was born and raised. She was drafted 1st overall in the 2015 WNBA Draft and won Rookie of the Year. Since embarking on her WNBA career seven years ago, she’s become a two-time WNBA champion, a two-time FIBA World Cup Gold Medalist, a 2020 Olympic Gold Medalist, and a four-time WNBA All-Star.

I’m not the only person that’s frustrated with dyslexia, and that makes me feel good! We are a community who can help each other persevere, and build each other up. And that is what’s so powerful about being dyslexic. You can see things. You can hear things. You have empathy because you understand how hard it is just to write your name, how hard it is to do simple math, how hard it was to just get a driver’s license.

There are three things that I want to emphasize and share.

The first thing is grace. We have to give ourselves and each other grace. That’s helped me understand so many things. When you have grace for yourself, you have this different movement of approaching situations. You have this patience; you have a kindness. With this grace, it’s knowing, taking a breath, resetting, and restarting. Get it done your way. That’s very important.

The second thing is love. You have to love who you are. You are one of one! There’s no one in this world made like you. You are literally unique and special, and you have got to love that about yourself. The way I’m made, the way my brain functions, and how I process information are unique to me. It helps me so much on the court. It gives me an edge that no one else can get. It’s amazing that little edge; I can’t explain it to you, but the way I see a pattern or a cut or a shot line or little angles in my game of basketball has helped me so much. And it’s just who I am. So, I have to love myself because it is part of me.

The last thing is to evolve. As humans, we have this ability to evolve, adapt and grow. We have to fully embrace that, too. It’s not easy. No one says it’s going to be easy, but the evolution is the growth that you see throughout yourself. The person who stands here now has that growth, that evolution of the processes that it takes to be great.

Greatness looks differently everywhere. The greatness might be you read a chapter book; the greatness might be you read a whole series of books; the greatness might be you are able to write your name. For me, greatness is the fact that I can read cursive. That was a big struggle for me. Those little things are greatness. Find these things, embrace these things. Love these things. Don’t ever forget these things, and continue to share your stories, and use your voice.