Erika Nielson — associate professor of instruction

During her time at Texas A&M, Erika Nielson found she had a talent and passion for cycling after spending time with the university’s cycling team. In the summer before her junior year, she got T-boned by a truck while on her bicycle.

If Nielson had not worn a helmet, she may not have survived the accident. She was left with broken bones, fractures, a detached scalp and a traumatic brain injury (TBI). From then on, Nielson had to learn how to live with the effects of her TBI.

“Even when we experienced something that is traumatic or something that we feel is limiting to us… how can it become our superpower so that we can grow as an individual and also create better experiences for what we might do?” Nielson said. “As for me, it’s teaching. For you, it might be anything. How can you make your conditions or labels, your diagnosis, your neuro-divergencies your superpower?”