Turning 18 wasn’t just a rite of passage into adulthood for Bethesda teenager Ava Subbian. It was the exclamation point on a remarkable childhood story defined by fortitude, resilience and new beginnings, and student-athletes at the George Washington University made sure she closed out that chapter in epic fashion.
Eleven years earlier, her parents, Rebecca and Sri, adopted then 7-year-old Subbian from an Eastern European institution for special needs children. She arrived in the Washington, D.C., area having to learn a new culture, language and way of life while carrying the emotional weight of years spent in an orphanage.
While she has faced an extra set of challenges than others her age, Subbian has forged ahead with a creative mind, determined spirit and love for sport. She’s part of a Maryland-based program called Open Door Sports, which enables special-needs children to participate in activities that aren’t commonly available in schools. She also competes in Special Olympics basketball and pours her heart into every team she joins.
And for the three magical days from Feb. 13 to Feb. 15, just a week shy of her milestone 18th birthday, she had a new team to pour her heart into: the GW Revolutionaries.
Student-athletes in GW’s chapter of Dream on 3—a national organization that gives kids and young adults with disabilities or health challenges an opportunity to live out their ultimate sports dream through a customized experience with their favorite athletes or teams–treated Subbian to a VIP weekend.
Her itinerary included joining the GW Cheer team at a men’s basketball game, a pizza party and movie theater outing with student-athletes from various teams as well as a behind-the-scenes experience with the GW gymnastics team during their meet against William & Mary and New Hampshire.
Reflecting back on the weekend, Sri Subbian recalled the old Mastercard ad campaign that there are some things that money can’t buy. Ava’s happiness, Sri said, was priceless.
“We couldn’t have scripted something like this,” he said. “[Ava] was so happy to be there.”
Each school year, Dream on 3 team captains—this year baseball’s Reese Crochet, gymnastics’ Delaney DeHaan and women’s soccer’s Rose Vigran—organize a special weekend for a deserving kid or young adult in the area. They conduct an interview process to select their recipient and then spend the next few months working to make that dream a reality. That includes booking hotels for the family, working with local restaurants and movie theaters and figuring out the financing of the experience.
And there are always plenty of script writers among eager GW student-athletes eager to play a role in giving the Dream recipient a sparkling experience.
“We come together, we fundraise, and then we put on a dream weekend for a kid who has a life-altering condition,” DeHaan said. “We’re trying to use our platform—sports, our schools—to celebrate them. That’s the heart of Dream on 3.”
From Potomac Pizza in Chevy Chase graciously hosting the reveal party and donating pizzas during the weekend to AMC Theaters helping accommodate the trip to the movies to student-athletes interacting with Subbian during the weekend, Crochet noted how building this experience brings out the best in people within the GW and D.C. communities.
Crochet has been involved with Dream on 3 for three years, with this being his first as co-captain, and is grateful for the culture built within GW Athletics that prioritizes using their platforms for good.
“What really stands out about GW is that people care deeply about performing well in their sport, but they also care about how they represent themselves outside of it,” Crochet said.
While the local recipient gets to deservedly be the star of the show, student-athletes get a lot out of the Dream on 3 experience as it allows them to reflect on the impact they can have both on and off the playing field.
“We get to do all these things every single day, and then to share that with someone who doesn’t and who wants to be in our shoes, just makes everything more meaningful,” Vigran said.
Through their care and passion making this experience possible, the GW student-athletes have created both long-lasting bonds and fans with the Subbian family.
Subbian spent much of her actual birthday a week later looking at all the photos and rewatching all the videos from the weekend before, and the family now keeps a schedule of all the teams she interacted with during her special experience.
While a chunk of her childhood included trials and tribulations, Subbian closed her final days of it building confidence, memories and friendships with GW student-athletes who were just as thrilled to give her this priceless experience.
“For 20-year-olds to have that level of emotional intelligence and leadership was so impressive. It felt like they were talking to a friend or a younger sister,” Sri Subbian said. “It was genuine.”
“George Washington University has become part of Ava’s world.”
