Student Stories
Elizabeth Boresow
Overland Park
Class of 2012, music therapy
“We looked at other schools, but KU has a great music program, and where else could I be a Jayhawk?”
When it comes to class gifts, a bench or a mural is fine. But the seniors at Blue Valley North High School in Overland Park wanted to do something different. They pooled $2,500 and made a gift to KU Endowment in honor of their classmate, Elizabeth Boresow.
Boresow barely spoke when she started high school. Diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, which is a form of autism and can result in communication, sensory and social issues, she struggled with the noise and crowds of the halls. The staff at Blue Valley North helped her learn management strategies, and during her freshmen year, Boresow, a talented musician, found an unexpected means for self-expression: marching band.
As a senior, she started a Circle of Friends group at her school to help students with autism. She won her classmates’ hearts through her perseverance, her music and her caring spirit. At graduation, she gave a speech before a thousand people — then her friends announced their gift. It will benefit the Kansas Center for Autism Research and Training, which opened last year as part of KU’s Life Span Institute. K-CART provides services at the KU Medical Center, the Lawrence campus and the Edwards Campus.
In fall 2008, Boresow fulfilled her childhood dream of coming to KU, began taking music classes and joined the Marching Jayhawks.
But it isn’t just music that makes her blood run crimson and blue. She’s a second-generation Jayhawk in a big way: Her father was one of 14 siblings, all of whom attended KU. “Every single one,” Boresow said. “They taught me well.”