Student-athlete rebounds from head injury to earn degree in neuroscience
This is one in a series of profiles showcasing some of Harvard’s stellar graduates. Sope Adeleye went up for a block and everything went black. “I just got hit in the face,” she said, describing that fateful moment during volleyball practice in October 2018. Adeleye had performed that jump thousands of times before, but this time her head got there faster than her hands. She was diagnosed with a severe concussion. The neuroscience major knew better than most that head traumas come with a shadowy threat — an increased risk of dementia. “So much of where I’ve gone in life is based on what I’ve been able to do with my brain,” she said. “That’s so much of who I am, and the idea of losing that, slowly but surely, that sense of self, the sense of who you are …” Growing up in Memphis, a younger sister to two athletic brothers and the daughter of...