BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — This week's First Student Super 7 athlete, Nardin's Kara Krupski, loves basketball. The four-year varsity athlete saw that love challenged as a freshman when she faced a life-changing diagnosis.
"I got Alopecia during my freshman year, during basketball season actually, one week into the season, and confidence got deflated," said Kara Krupski. "Appearance-wise, personally, and then basketball also came with that. I just was really full of self-doubt and confidence was a really big issue my freshman year."
Within a month, Krupski lost all her hair and began playing with a beanie. Still, she never stopped working, and it was at that point her love of the game became what mattered most.
"I actually met retired NBA player Charlie Villanueva, who has Alopecia, and I asked him for advice," said Krupski. "He told me, 'If this is something you love, you shouldn't care what anyone else thinks about you when you're on the court,' and literally the next basketball tournament was the first tournament I didn't play with a hat on."
"You know she's a stronger person as a result of that," said coach Tony Krupski. "She's a stronger person on the basketball court, not just her physical toughness, but her mental toughness."
"When I found that again, everything just clicked," said Krupski, "That's all I can say, just everything clicked."
So despite losing her hair, Kara found her passion, her purpose, and her game, opening her season with 19 points while also becoming an advocate, even taking a trip to D.C. this past summer to fight for coverage for others dealing with Alopecia.
"I'll always be extremely proud," said Tony Krupski. "I don't show a lot of emotion or smile a lot on the court, but deep down inside, I've got a lot of smiling going on."
And that's what makes Kara Krupski this week's First Student Super 7 Athlete of the Week.
