More Than Just a Numbers Guy
A Story of Fighting On.
By Student Editor-in-Chief: Olyvia Renae Young
All Photography by Samantha Hirschhorn
In July of this last Summer, I was working a relatively normal shift at Kelly’s Bakery. I think it was a Saturday morning. We had been busy all day and it was starting to near the end of our breakfast rush, when a young man and his parents came in to have brunch. As I was delivering their food to their table, my boss was standing there talking with the family. He introduced me to them as a rising Senior at Marist, who should chat with their son, and maybe become a connection for him at school. We got to talking, and I learned he was a rising Sophomore Business student. He had dreams of studying abroad in Italy and needed a confidence boost in getting there, one I was happy to give him. The longer I stood there talking with him, the more I was struck by him. By his light. I knew not long after our interaction that I would have to find a way to feature him, here. Today is that day. Meet Nate Morse, a 19-year-old Sophomore Business major with a concentration in Finance. Nate’s story is one that has struck me to the core and shown me there is light found in all of the darkness and unknown parts of life, if you’re willing to look for it. He knows this better than anyone.
Born and raised in Poughkeepsie, Nate is a young man who embodies what it means to live every day to the fullest. In 2019, during his freshman year at Arlington High School, Nate suffered from a spinal cord injury that left him quadriplegic. An accident that would leave most people depressed and dreading the rest of their life, became the beginning of the rest of his.
“I didn’t know what was going to happen or what my life was going to be like, but I knew I had to keep pushing.”
The next year and a half revolved around his recovery, and being able to get home and start his new life. This meant he needed a support team big enough to lift him up as high as his dreams were and show him how much was possible, despite his new condition. This is where the Hudson Valley organization, Angels of Light, came into play in his life. The foundation was founded by Lori Decker and her Husband, and Marist Alum, George Decker. Their mission: to assist children and families with life threatening illness, or whose life has suddenly been altered by an accident or loss of life, living or receiving treatment in the Hudson Valley. And while Nate’s support system already included thousands due to the Facebook page started by his mother, called ‘Nate’s Journey’, Angels of Light knew they also had to be a part of his healing journey and coming home. Danielle Mollica, the President of the company, reached out to his mother and expressed interest in his case, offering to help his parents give Nate the most magical Christmas possible, following the strife of the past year.
“They offered to get all of my Christmas presents.” Said Nate, “I felt guilty because I didn’t know who would be buying them, or what their situation was like.”
Nate’s selflessness was resistant to the idea of someone spending any more of their money on him, despite it being offered in order to help bring him and his family joy. But in the end, he decided to send in his list. “I had an inground cement basketball court on there, and I got it… I got a lot more than that.”
His gratitude practically shown out of him as he told me this story, along with his unwavering sense of humility. It was then he knew that the next Christmas, his wish would be to do the same for another child and their family.
“I got matched with a 4-year-old girl, Emma, who was battling cancer.” His family didn’t know if she would be out of the hospital in time to have her Christmas at home, but like a miracle, she was released from the hospital two days before Christmas and got to open the gifts they had gotten for her. “Seeing her feel joy, brought me joy.” Angels of Light has done far more than just get his and Emma’s Christmases sorted, “Without Angels of Light, I wouldn’t be here today.”
In 2021, Nate decided to open a fashion brand called ‘Nate Dog Official’. He sells t-shirts and hats, with graphics designed by him, that are meant to encourage others to chase their dreams and think positively. Additionally, some of his profits go to Angels of Light, who also helped him kickstart the brand. His artistic abilities also seeped into his high school experience, when he and his scribe commissioned a mural during his 10th grade year. The mural depicted five individuals, all with different disabilities, holding hands and looking out to the sunset. The script in the painting says, ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’.
“I wanted people to look at it and realize that even though we’re all different on the outside, our internal selves are all the same.”
When I commented on Nate’s versatility and ability to tackle so many different things and activities, his response was “I think of something and I’m going to do it.” He likes to live his life with no limits, “who knows what the future holds; I could be parachuting next year. You never know.”
Which leads to how he found his way into the Marist community. Pre-injury, Nate was an avid lacrosse player, even getting to train with the Marist team in 2016, so he was no stranger to the family that exists here on campus. So, when it came time to consider his collegiate future, choosing Marist felt like choosing home. However, his admittance was a whirlwind decision.
“I didn’t know I was going to go to college until 3 weeks before the applications were due. Two weeks later, I found out I got in.” He tells me with a smile, “I went from fighting for my life and not knowing what I was going to do with my future; to going to college and trying to fulfill my dreams.”
On the fly, he made a decision that most make over the course of many years, once again living up to his beliefs of just thinking of something and doing it. When I started to ask him why he wanted to go into business, he told me he wasn’t really sure other than he felt it gave him the most opportunity, “And I guess I am just more of a numbers guy now.”
Nate’s Winning Pose
This same thing could be said about his introduction to the world of body building. About a year or two after his accident, “There was this drive in me that just wanted to move weight.” Soon, a return to the gym intended for improved mobility and strength, became an outlet for him to reignite the competitive parts of himself. Nate’s trainer, Brittany, was the first to see this competitive drive in him while in the gym, and she was soon encouraging him to enter the world of competitive lifting, showing himself and the world, that a wheelchair can’t stop him from being the best in show.
“My trainer Brittany saw that I could win, she was the push I needed.” He said, “Shout out Brittany.”
On September 20th, 2023, Nate competed in his very first body building competition in the wheelchair division, where he took first place and won gold. When I asked him if he thinks he is competition that should be feared, his answer was a short and simple, “Yes.”
“I was the first one to come out,” he told me, “So I set the tone and the bar at THE highest.”
However, this past September, the competition didn’t have enough promotion or sign-ups for the wheelchair division, so he was not able to compete. This was disappointing because he knows of many other lifters who use wheelchairs who would not only bring him good competition, but also good publicity to the show. “People love to see us (those with physical disabilities) kick ass.” And when I asked him for other reasons why he wanted more sign-ups in his division, he said, “I want competition. I am competitive. I want to prove I can win, again.”
But the competition is not what keeps Nate going to the gym. Rather, it is the community he has made for himself there. For him, the gym is a place where people from all walks of life gather to better themselves and strengthen their bodies and minds.
“In the gym, it doesn’t matter what you look like, you’ll be accepted.” Nates tells me, “ You can be any form of anyone.”
In a world where is it increasingly difficult to fit in, regardless of your shape or size, the gym is the one place in the world where he feels completely free to be himself. It’s also one of the only places where any insecurity or anxiety about his appearance disappears.
“I don’t care what I look like, that’s not why I go to the gym. I go to the gym because I could be in the worst mood ever, go to the gym, and come out with a smile.”
Nate, and his trainer, Brittany
As someone who is exponentially gym avoidant, I found this outlook to be refreshing. It gave me a new perspective on what it means to be active and strong, outside of just getting a pump and a six pack. It also made me realize that if he can do it, then I most certainly can. And by that, I mean, if he can go about life with such tenacity, then why can’t I? Why don’t I? As we neared the end of our interview, I found myself wanting to know what he wanted the readers to take away from his story, other than he’s a super strong, kick ass, numbers guy. He told me he wants people to just be happy to be alive. To live each moment and day and week to the fullest. “To just keep going.”
“If I am getting out of bed every day, going to class and doing what I have to do, than you have no excuses.”
We, as young people, are at a pivotal time in our lives where every second counts. We don’t know what tomorrow holds, but we know we have our dreams, and we know we have today. So why not take a page from Nate’s playbook and live each day, like it could be the last one. Like Nate said to me, once our interview was technically over, “Whatever happens in your life, keep fighting. You will always come out on top.” However, these things can often take time, he continued on to say, “It might take years, it’s not overnight. But as long as you stay true to yourself and keep pushing, you’ll get there.”
It was in this moment, sitting across from him in the Steel Plant, with my voice memos recording his words, that I realized that he explained what it meant to measure up. In my time so far as Student Editor-in-Chief, I have been continuously asking myself and my team: Do We Measure Up? And if this story tells me anything, it’s that we don’t, not yet at least. But if we can live in the way that Nate has and will continue to do so, we might just have a chance.
“That’s it, that’s all I got. The End. Be Happy.”
