Student recognized

A Child of War: Mountaineers Star has Built New Life in New Country by Tommy Bowman (Winston-Salem Journal) August 23, 2006 - Some of the things that Justin Woazeah has forgotten about his childhood in war-torn Liberia come to him in dreams. "Sometimes they become nightmares," he said. "Some things I saw, like an old man getting hung in a tree and just left there to see day after day. People getting shot, and a gun being put to my head. Those are some of the things that come back." Woazeah is thankful that he's able to wake up, having fled a raging civil war at age 5 for safety in the United States. "It's good I got out," he said. Woazeah, a cornerback for Appalachian State, was born in 1984 in Liberia, a country on the West Coast of Africa. His mother came to Winston-Salem to join her sister and continue a high-school education. Woazeah remained in Liberia, living with his grandfather, who was chief of a village there. A civil war intensified as result of a power struggle between two regimes - one led by Samuel Doe, who seized power in the country in 1980, and another led by Charles Taylor, who began an effort in 1989 to topple Doe. Estimates are that more than 200,000 people were killed in fighting over the next seven years. "It was so crazy during that war," Woazeah said. "A soldier would walk up to you and put a gun to your head and ask who are you for, Doe or Taylor? And if it wasn't the answer they wanted, they would shoot you." Nancy Woazeah, Justin's mother, said: "There was a lot of violence, a lot of trouble. People were looking for my father, being a chief, and they moved from place to place." Justin Woazeah said that children were recruited as soldiers. "Anybody could get a gun," he said. "Anybody could be a soldier to protect your family. I had friends when I was 5 that were my age that had handguns and were training to be soldiers. That's how crazy it was. "A commander for one of the groups of soldiers came to my town and told my grandfather he needed crops. My grandfather told him that they couldn't camp there because it would put our town in danger. So, they started torturing him and destroying things. "That's when he said that I had to come here, because it was too dangerous. My mom and dad found out what had happened and they sent for me. So I came here. I haven't seen my grandfather since, but he's alive." The civil war subsided in 2003. Woazeah has had minimal contact with family members still there. His six sisters are in the U.S., one brother is still in West Africa. He said he wants to go back someday, but not until the goals that he has set here are accomplished. One of those goals, which includes getting a degree in computer science, has been achieved. He was an unrecruited walk-on at Appalachian, and was moved to a new position when defensive coordinator John Wiley saw potential in him as a cornerback. Woazeah seized the opportunity and started every game as a redshirt freshman. "He's a strong boy," Nancy Woazeah said. "He worked hard when he got to Appalachian and got a full scholarship." Woazeah and fellow cornerback Jerome Touchstone, a true freshman at the time, both started every game in 2004. It was a learning experience for both. "It was my first time ever playing cornerback," Woazeah said. "I didn't have a bad freshman season, but people think I did because of that Chattanooga game (a 59-56 loss). I took that as a heartbreak. "My parents talked to me about taking criticism. They said the fact is you did get beat, that it did happen, but that people probably see more potential in you than you show. They said to take that criticism and better yourself. So I worked on not getting beat deep. And that's what I did last season. I didn't get beat deep at all last year, except for (Southern Illinios), but we're going to let that ride." Woazeah had four interceptions last season, when Appalachian won the NCAA Division I-AA national title. Woazeah said that he has benefited from athletics competition, using it as an outlet for his emotions. "I remember being teased in kindergarten, being an outsider and being from Africa," Woazeah said. "I'm a very emotional person, and I stayed to myself a lot and kept a lot of things inside. I didn't like the jokes, they would get to me. I would want to fight. My mom and my dad just taught me that you just can't always fight, that sometimes you have to find better ways. "I began playing basketball and the better I got at that the more respect I got from my friends and my peers. The jokes weren't there. I let out my emotions and aggressions through sports." Ed Broyhill, whom Woazeah considers a godfather, befriended Woazeah when Broyhill's sons played football with Woa-zeah at Reynolds High School. "One thing I learned growing up is that adversity builds strong character," Broyhill said. "If there's one person that reflects that it's Justin Woazeah, given the nightmare of a childhood he had as a refugee in a country with famine and violence all around him that threatened his family. Fortunately, he was able to come to the United States at an early age to make a new life. He's a fine young man and he certainly sets a good example." Woazeah said: "I talk more about my past than I used to. I've been reading the Bible more and get more understanding about the purpose of my life and that it's in somebody else's hands other than mine. I believe that's true."