His biggest aspiration had always been to get into medical school, but he could not sacrifice one dream for another. So together, we decided to attend college in Salt Lake City, where we could pursue a degree while snowboarding. Brolin stepped it up a level once in college. Always the last one to leave the library, he blew through organic chemistry while shredding Park City nearly every day. People started to take notice of this kid who spent almost every hour in the library and stuck out in the park as the sole Ugandan shredder. One person in particular, a filmmaker named Galen Knowles, caught wind of his story and immediately wanted to know more. Upon getting the lowdown on Brolin, Galen saw the potential of his story and the effect it could have on people coming from similar circumstances to pursue their dreams, no matter what might stand in the way. Through our combined efforts, Far From Home was born.

The documentary will chronicle Brolin’s story as it happens, while going back into his past and revisiting the circumstances he overcame to get so far. When people think about snowboarding, they usually don’t think about a Ugandan born immigrant on the road to becoming a doctor. But that is the beauty of Brolin and his story. Far From Home aims to break barriers and show that truly anything is possible. Growth is dependent upon the community you immerse yourself in and the people you surround yourself with. Last May, we were able to travel back to Uganda with Brolin. It was the first time he had been back since he left eight years ago. As we drove up to his father’s house, the tension hung in the air like a bad smell. Our van bounced and rattled over every pothole we hit on the dirt road through the capital. Motorcycle taxis weaved around us with no concern for danger as they swerved through the traffic. We pulled onto a dirt road and were met by a steel red gate and a man waving his hands and ushering us to come inside. Brolin failed to recognize him at first. He remembered his father as an imposing man, whom he addressed by bowing his head and kneeling to him. He was always afraid of what was to come if he disappointed him. But Brolin had returned a man. A man ready to come to peace with his past. He was greeted with open arms as the van door slid open, but the camera that was to follow took his father aback. After embracing his father, Brolin had to take a step back and retreat from the scene. Placing his hands over his eyes overwhelmed by what was occurring, we walked into his backyard. Making our way in between stone houses and clothing lines, we eventually arrived in an open dirt field. “This is where I used to play soccer,” Brolin said as he looked over the rows of houses and dirt streets that rolled down the hill into the city. He took it all in, how he had changed since he left Uganda and the person he came back as, ready to move forward from the past and forgive.

What snowboarding gave Brolin, and what snowboarding gives so many people, is the power to overcome your fears, your limits, and your circumstances. Whether it is dropping that 30-foot cliff, stepping up to the biggest kicker in the park, or even just making it off the chair and riding down the slope for the first time, it gives you the confidence to believe in yourself. Problems cease to exist when you’re strapped into a snowboard as the present moment embraces you. You tune into your surroundings, to the mountains, and to the people you’re riding with. You laugh that you are able to share this experience. You laugh because everything you were worried about disappears. Snowboarding transcends real life, and the things you learn on a snowboard translate into the person you become. Brolin aspires to show the world that limits do not exist by becoming the first African to snowboard in the Olympics. Whether that is in 2014 or 2018 depends on the Ugandan government’s willingness to set up a Winter Olympic Committee.

At that moment, when Brolin does drop into the Olympic slopestyle course, it will not be about throwing the gnarliest triple cork or winning the gold medal. It will be about showing the world that life is limitless. That it does not matter where you come from, as you can free yourself from your circumstances and create your own destiny. I watched Brolin struggle to survive in an oppressive environment for many years. I saw how it affected him, and I saw him overcome it. Through his love for snowboarding, through his will to better himself, he found a way out. The freedom he felt on a snowboard became a reality and he embraced it. He let it fill him and take him away. Making it to the Olympic stage will be his way of giving back what snowboarding gave to him. His presence there will inspire someone to find sanctuary on the slopes, just as he did.