Arizona soccer's Maia Brown, track's James Onanubosi inaugural Wildcats in 'Big 12 Beyond Borders' program

Maia Brown and James Onanubosi never imagined they’d be pioneers when they decided to attend Arizona.

Brown, who plays soccer, and Onanubosi, who runs track, were the first Arizona athletes to participate in any official event in the Wildcats’ new conference — heck, even before the UA had technically joined the Big 12.

The Big 12 Beyond Borders cultural program kicked off in Washington, D.C., from July 5-9; Arizona officially joined the conference on Aug. 2.

“Coming into my freshman year, my main focus was run fast, run fast, run fast,” Onanubosi said. “That’s all that was in my mind: track and field, track and field, track and field. I came to Arizona, I didn’t know they had all these opportunities for athletes to go and travel in the United States and learn from different people’s background, ethnicities, which is a really great opportunity. But definitely, I did not expect this at all.”

The Big 12 Beyond Borders program aims to, according to a conference press release, “immerse selected student-athletes in a variety of historical and cultural experiences in the U.S. and internationally.” Brown and Onanubosi are the UA’s first pair, while each of the Big 12’s other 15 schools designated two athletes apiece.

“We created Big 12 Beyond Borders as a way to help develop our student-athletes into the global leaders of tomorrow,” said Big 12 chief impact officer Jenn Hunter in a league-issued press release. “The program utilizes history, culture, engagement advocacy and giving back as a way to understand their connectedness and place in this world.”

Onanubosi, who is from Nampa, Idaho — a town of around 100,000 people — said going to Washington, D.C., for the first time was “definitely a culture shock.” Next summer, as part of the two-year program, the same athletes will travel to Mexico City.

In July, besides meeting their contemporaries from the 15 other schools in the Big 12, Brown and Onanubosi visited three museums while in the nation’s capital: the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the National Museum of the American Indian. The athletes also met with legislative aides for senators and representatives.

In the application form each filled out to be selected for the program, Brown and Onanubosi had to share an issue or concern they would bring to a legislator.

“My issue was about the water quantity issues and how that would be impacting the health of Arizona, especially when it comes to agriculture and the jobs that that brings,” said Brown, a public health major. “Also knowing that Yuma County supplies a lot of the leafy vegetables for most of the country during the wintertime, I brought to the front that that would probably be an issue coming forth as we’re losing more water due to climate change.”

Onanubosi was focused on economic disparities, notably the need for affordable housing so all families can have the opportunity to own a home.

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Once arriving at the U.S. Capitol, they not only talked about these issues, but they also came up with a proposal for a bill that could be presented to the senators or representatives.

Both said they were a bit overwhelmed at first, but that uneasiness went away and they presented their cases. Brown teamed up with ASU beach volleyball player Arden Besecker.

“I thought it was really cool,” Brown said. “We were all in our business professional attire. We were both a little bit nervous because it was our first meeting, but it went really well. And as time went on, we learned how to communicate in a professional manner, which was really cool. (Prior to this) I never had to pull together data, facts and personal experience to convince a person to maybe take on some of our issues.”

The museums were, as Brown said, “heavy.” To break this up, the athletes did have fun, including Topgolf and taking in a Washington Nationals baseball game.

Even though Brown had been to a few of the museums before, this time it was different.

“After every museum we went to, we had a cultural conversation about how individuals felt,” Brown said. “After the Holocaust Museum, it was definitely a deep conversation with some people having Jewish origins. How that made them feel, and being in today’s era, with the conflict going on in Israel, how that impacted their experience in the museum. The next day, we went to the African American Museum, which was, again, a really great experience. Hearing the perspectives of the other student athletes around me gave me a deeper appreciation for being a Black woman in America.”

Added Onanubosi: “We hear these struggles, but we actually don’t know. We don’t realize how bad it actually was, until, for me personally, I went into these museums. They are putting up numbers, comparing these numbers to other things, how many slaves were brought over these ships, or how many Jews were in these concentration camps, and how they were treated. I think these museums just made me realize how grateful I am to have the opportunity to run, to run track the University of Arizona, and not having these struggles that these people had during their time.”

Onanubosi said his biggest takeaway came from the engaging with the other athletes and going to the museums.

“Learning about other people, learning to listen hearing each other’s points and learning we can all strive for better,” Onanubosi said.

Brown, who came right back to training camp — the UA soccer team was the first Wildcat sport to compete, and win, in the school’s new Big 12 era when opening its 2024 season on Aug. 15 — said she is already using what she learned from listening to others and “respecting what they bring to the team and having those hard conversations.”

In choosing to attend and compete at Arizona, Brown thought she “was just going to really focus on my academics and soccer and getting to achieve those goals,” she said. “Being able to spread my network has been great. Meeting different people at the heads of the Big 12 and different student-athletes — that was never really in my plans. I thought I was going to stay in Arizona. It was definitely a great opportunity. It taught me not to say ‘no’ to opportunities but take them for what they bring.”