Runner now holds 3 world records

You can refer to her as a world-renowned athlete, a model, an actress and even disabled. Just don't call her an inspiration. \nA woman defying all expectations, Aimee Mullins filled each of these roles, as well as the seats of the Indiana Memorial Union's Alumni Hall Monday night.\n"To call me an inspiration is to deny that I have any real talent," Mullins said in an interview.\nMullins, who was born without fibula bones in both of her shins, is a bilateral below-the-knee amputee. Overcoming adversity, she rose to become a world record holder for the 100-meter and 200-meter dash and long jump events by competing in the 1996 and 2000 Paralympics games.\nAs a child, Mullins remembers thinking to herself that she just couldn't take no for an answer. And she didn't. \nHaving attended Georgetown University on a full academic scholarship, at 17, Mullins became the youngest person ever to work in the Pentagon. However, it was her family background that left her hungry for a competitive atmosphere. \n"I was constantly active in my childhood, and now after two years of just going to class, I was ready to get back into it," Mullins told a crowd of several hundred attendees.\nMaking a decision to focus on collegiate sports, it was under the direction of famed Georgetown University track coach Frank Gagliano that she went on to accomplish more than most athletes without disabilities. \nIgnoring every odd stacked against her and adding to her list of achievements, Mullins went on to model and even act. She \nattributes her success in life with a desire to grow and overcome obstacles.\n"Life is beautiful, gratitude, self-awareness and so many other things. You just have to pull away from the frame of mind that makes things not possible," Mullins said. "You just have to keep going. We are all very disabling to ourselves but we are supposed to have hard times. That's what life's about."\nShe advised college students to embark on a similar path and never settle for the status quo.\n"Remember to stay curious, understand the power you have to make yourself happy and don't believe it when people say these are the best years of your life. Those are people who just got boring," she said.\nSpending her life rising above her status as an amputee, Mullins has recently added the honor of being named one of People magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People," and recalls the time when she was told she was so beautiful, some couldn't even tell she was disabled.\n"I just asked what disabled people were supposed to look like," Mullins said. "The best thing I'll ever do for disabled people is not to be viewed as one." \nAlthough her experiences are anything but ordinary, Mullins still associates her hardships as a simple matter of fear. \n"It taught me what courage is. Everyone feels fear, but only some can rise against it." \nJunior and defensive back on the IU men's soccer team Jed Zayner presented Mullins with a jersey signed by the IU soccer team.\n"Ultimately, it is not about what records she holds or her involvement in the development of new prosthetics that makes Aimee wonderful. It is how she carries herself," Zayner said. \nMullins ended her formal speech by saying everyone in the room had their own disability to cope with as well.\n"We all have that one thing that holds us back," she said. "Rather than have it be a skeleton in the closet, have it be a skeleton key that unlocks the door to opportunity"