WISE - - Yesid Mosquera-Perea, a player for UVa-Wise's men's basketball team, knows a thing or two about perseverance.
 
Growing up on the Pacific coast of Colombia, the Cavalier fondly recalls the place where he spent his childhood. "I love my country. It's a very fun place," he said.
 
Mosquera-Perea's hometown of Quibdo, Choco, lacked financial opportunities. After witnessing the difficulty his family had in sending his siblings to school, he decided that basketball was his best option.
 
Coming to America at the age of 15, Mosquera-Perea found the transition difficult in some ways. "It was definitely challenging. I didn't know the language when I came over, so that was the most frustrating part," he said.
 
Mosquera-Perea was determined to make his way, however. "It was challenging, but I was up for the challenge. You know, I've made up my mind since I was very young and once I got here … there was no choice." "I had to make it work," he said.
 
After reaching America, he attended Carlisle School in Martinsville, Virginia where he credits the school with helping him learn English, saying they helped give him "enough education for me to catch up".
 
For Mosquera-Perea, America has been a good experience. "America's been great to me," he said. "I've had some great experiences on and off the court. I've got to meet some great people, and it's changing my life for the better."
 
The 6-foot-6 forward began his journey into the world of basketball at the age of 12, when his physical education coach asked who would be interested in trying out to play. "All my group of friends that were sitting in the back rose their hand, so I just rose my hand with them," he said.
 
After trying out, Mosquera-Perea found that he was not particularly good at basketball. He was determined to persevere, however. "I never like to not be good at what I do," he laughed.
 
"It presented a challenge to me," he said. "After that I kind of just took it upon myself to become good at it, and I picked it up fast."
 
Mosquera-Perea played for less than five minutes in the 2018-2019 season, due to an injury he suffered in October. "I partially tore my ACL," he said.
 
"It was … frustrating," he recalled. "I was feeling healthy at the time. Since it was a partial tear I was playing through it. I didn't know. And then by the time I'd realized, it was very close to the season." Making the difficult choice to have surgery and miss the season, Mosquera-Perea saw only four minutes of playing time in one game for the entirety of the season.
 
Despite his setbacks, Mosquera-Perea has stayed motivated throughout his recovery process. "Basketball changed my life for the better," he said. "I love the game."
 
While Mosquera-Perea hopes his return to the court in his first game of the season will help propel the team to a win, the only thing he is certain of is that he will be playing hard. "In this game, you get what you put in. So I'm gonna just go out there and play to the best of my abilities, as hard as possible," he said.
 
In his freshman season, Mosquera-Perea averaged just over six points a game, playing an average of nearly 16 minutes per game. He shot over 46 percent from the field and nearly 44 percent from beyond the arc. He averaged over two rebounds per game, and averaged over 62 percent from the free throw line.
 
In his sophomore season, he saw a good deal of growth. Averaging 10.7 points per game, playing an average of over 27 minutes per game, Mosquera-Perea shot nearly 47 percent from the field, made 72 percent of his free throws and improved his rebounding, averaging over five rebounds per game in his second season.
 
Although Mosquera-Perea is eligible for another year of basketball after the 2019-2020 season, he has made the choice to graduate. In his family, education is viewed as very important.  "It's a big accomplishment for my family," he said. His graduation will be particularly exciting for his mother, who is a teacher herself. Mosquera-Perea hopes that his mother, as well as his father and his siblings, will be able to attend his graduation.
 
Mosquera-Perea's mother has impacted his life in many ways. "My mother, growing up, was and still is one of my biggest inspirations," he said.
 
Mosquera-Perea plans to graduate with a major in economics and a minor in business. Mosquera-Perea hopes to continue playing basketball after graduating, desiring to "play at the highest level possible, that being anywhere in the world."
 
UVa-Wise has been a good fit for Mosquera-Perea, helping him to stay concentrated on his goals. "It's peaceful. And coming in I knew that, and I wanted to use [it to] my advantage in terms of focusing on what I have to do," he said.
 
Mosquera-Perea hopes that he has made an impact on UVa-Wise, desiring for the community to "remember there was … a Colombian kid here from Choco that … was charismatic, and always there for his friends, and … took care of his work."
 
"Hopefully they got a little experience with what my culture is like, and maybe it opened their eyes a little bit more to the stereotypes that may be out there."