Thank You Thomas by Alexandra

Thank You Thomas by Alexandra - November 2019 Scholarship Essay

Tears and screams erupted as my school's fire alarm blared through the classrooms. I saw some of the students hide under the desks and others ran around the room. Some sat in silence and others pounded their toys on their desks. Chaos.
Before that particular PlayTime meeting, I was not aware that most children with autism are terrified of loud noises. It was only my third session, and the rude awakening discouraged me from participating in the weekly meetings where members of the leadership program would join the students with moderate to severe autism to interact through arts and games: PlayTime. I dreaded walking into that classroom. With prejudice and impatience, I did not see the point of trying to connect with students so vastly different from me. While they struggled to pronounce my name, I struggled to become more open minded. Overcoming my own arrogance and immaturity was my greatest obstacle.
Then I met Thomas. During one regular meeting, we were solving a mega crossword puzzle. After finding all the words within two minutes, he started mimicking the squeak our shoes made after the rain. It was his lighthearted innocence that made me to join, and together, we proceeded to obnoxiously disturb everyone around us. I found myself laughing with him all period. He was far from the only student I became close with, but he was the first.
As simple as it may seem, allowing myself to get to know Thomas introduced me to the idea of acceptance, and he proved to me that happiness comes in all forms. I finally started to look forward to our sessions, and by the end of the year I decided to volunteer to be the head of the PlayTime program.
For two years, I organized every meeting, befriended every student, and helped the director, Ms. Nancy Acord, compile accurate progress reports of every child. This three year involvement taught me that any fool can criticize or complain, but in my experience, it takes true self control to listen, understand, and empathize with others, especially with those that are different.