Amir Etemadi

Amir’s leadership journey has taken him through situations where he’s tapped into his innate ability to transform challenges into opportunities to inspire others.  At the age of 9, he suffered a brain and neck injury from karate and was in a horrific car accident a couple days later. Considered the least likely of aspirants to make the basketball team, he persevered, was selected for the team, and leveraged his influence to encourage and motivate his teammates.

Amir comes from humble beginnings.  His dad immigrated from Iran to the US in 1990 and his mom immigrated from Japan.  No stranger to hard work, his weekends consisted primarily of hauling lumber, moving car engines in the hot sun, and fertilizing trees with chicken feces. While this grueling labor didn’t leave a lot of time to focus on making the basketball team, it did solidify his work ethic and strengthen his resolve to push even harder towards all he set his heart to.

Not one to solely focus on himself, Amir is a selfless leader and is extremely active in the community. When he was not logging hours on the basketball court or running track and cross country, he was investing time for the benefit of others.  You could find him picking up trash every Wednesday to promote ecological sustainability through the Environmental Club.  In addition, through his Friends of the Library partnership, his efforts helped fund literacy projects for Alachua County. 

Fluent in Japanese, as a high school student, he even joined the Japanese Association (NihonjinKai) and played an integral role in setting up and running a local Japanese library for Japanese residents and UF students.  In this capacity, he partnered with other members to host events, potlucks, and parties to welcome local Japanese residents and students coming from Japan to UF. He even helped teach Japanese classes for those interested in learning the language.

Upon graduation from Carleton College, he plans to work in the medical field to help others recover from injuries, modeling the example his medical team set when set him on his road to recovery. He also looks forward to coming back to work with the students of the Clarey Walker Leadership Academy to help shape the next wave of leaders.