User Spotlight: Michael Day

Hello everyone and welcome to our User Spotlight’s! We created these posts to help inform and inspire our followers and users. The goal is to highlight people who are working on something special, fun or unique. We plan to do a post every Sunday, so if you are interested in being featured or want to nominate someone to be featured, please reach out to us at [email protected] with the subject line,  “User Spotlight”.

Thanks and we hope you enjoy!

Michael Day: I’m a 26-year-old T5 complete from Atlanta, GA. I use a manual chair with fixed geometry as my daily. I have been living in DC with no need for a car (which means almost zero transfers, yay!), but I recently bought a Nissan LEAF for getting around Atlanta. The wheelchair fits into the back with no disassembly when I have passengers to load it for me, which is awesome.

MD: My hobby life revolves around motorsports, but I also spend a lot of time reading, taking online courses, learning languages, and building things (most recently an Arduino electronics prototyping kit). I play guitar, mostly metal and progressive on electric 6- and 7- string, but I love acoustic as well. I have less free time now that I am developing a startup, but I absolutely love working on it! Right now my only track toy is a 125cc shifter kart, but I am working towards a hand-controlled Radical prototype or Global MX-5 Cup car. I love nature, photography, and travel. Hardly surprising given I was a downhill mountain biker in my past life, I suppose. I also sim race quite a bit; mostly endurance races from 3 to 24 hours in length.

MD: My favorite adventure so far would have to be a concert at the newly-relocated Masquerade venue in Kenny’s Alley, Underground Atlanta. It is much more accessible than the old venue, better than many new venues, even. I always have a great view that I can leave and return to easily during the show, perfect for runs to the bathroom, bar, or merch table.

MD: My least favorite adventure is spectating races at road courses, especially when they have a lot of elevation. I attended Daytona International Speedway for the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona and was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to navigate the venue and get different views of the action. I think the only downside was that I couldn’t go from the infield to the grandstands without a shuttle, but they had an accessible shuttle with a ramp and it was rather fun riding on it. In an exciting development, the FIA has created a new Disability and Accessibility Commission (DAA), which plans to remove barriers from drivers who require vehicle modifications like hand controls to compete.

MD: Though things like learning, racing, and great relationships are some of my favorite things in life, I am driven by a deep desire to make drastic changes to our education system. In my perfect world, education would be free of cost to any learner and monetized by talent acquisition firms instead. Through learning and understanding, I have changed my own life in ways that I never imagined would be possible before, and the majority of that came from outside of what I was taught in school. I think that, by lacking some of these crucial tools, many people face obstacles in trying to reach their goals and in finding purpose and fulfillment in life. I would consider my life a great success if I could contribute to improving that, even if only in a small way. I am very excited by the disruptive educational opportunities available to the public right now, and I’m optimistic about the future of education. I have been blindsided time and time again by life, but these tools have allowed me to capitalize on those experiences, often in ways that were profoundly rewarding and even life-changing. In general, my wheelchair and disability are afterthoughts; my life revolves around my passions, endeavors, and relationships. The chair is a tiny detail, and things like iAccess Life take that to another level.