“I am who I am. A four foot tall, 30 year old, sexy black man.” Chaz Kellem is an extremely confident man. He and his speaking partner, Chris Mielo, travel the country with their speaking group, Unbreakable Drive.

Kellem and Mielo came to Tyrone High School on September 16^th to speak about diversity and breaking through stereotypes. The duo had a rather exciting way of doing things.

They started immediately with a group activity that involved the students directly. Kellem and Mielo asked a group of about twelve students to organize themselves by age. Sounds easy enough.  However, they weren’t allowed to say a word.  The ways in which the students chose to tackle the problem illustrated their differences, their strengths and their weaknesses.

The rest of the assembly followed this same tone. The pair kept the students interested, and even laughing at times, while talking about some serious issues.

Mielo was originally from Tampa Florida. He was a victim of a drunken driving accident that killed his mother and her boyfriend. At only 4 years old, he was paralyzed from the waist down.

Mielo had loved playing sports as a child and refused to stop just because of his disability. He moved to Pittsburgh to play wheelchair basketball for Edinboro University. He is currently attending Robert Morris University for his degree in TV and video production. He makes freelance videos and travels with Unbreakable Drive, his speaking group.

Kellem was born with his disability. He had no choice in the matter. Mielo summed up his situation quite powerfully, “The simple task of standing is something that I’ll never be able to do,” said Kellem.

Kellem is from Pittsburgh and attended Edinboro University and earned his degree in sports management. He went on to earn his masters degree at Robert Morris in leadership. He now works at the Pittsburgh Pirates as a manager and Diversity Consultant.

Senior Lucy Raftery said “I thought it was a good experience and I enjoyed the message they had. I also liked the way they were comfortable in their own skin.”

Kellem and Mielo travel around telling their stories so that people who face adversity in their lives can see that anything is possible. They built a philosophy to deal with their disabilities, “Never give up and keep pushing forward,” said Meilo.  Their message was that everyone should live with that in mind.