Don't Judge a Book by its Cover by Daisy

Don't Judge a Book by its Cover by Daisy - October 2013 Scholarship Essay

It’s funny how people say that we’re born equal when in reality we’re not. The only time that it might actually be true would be when we’re in our mothers womb, because in there we haven’t experienced racism, bullying, social barriers, etc. That’s why when I finally decided to give back to my community my junior year. I volunteered at the Special Needs Dance and to be honest I did it to get out of class and hang out with my friends.
The Special Needs Dance was held at Elks Lodge, and it looked like an ordinary dance. My friends and I were in charge of setting up the decorations so the kids could experience a normal dance. Once everything was set up, kids started rushing in. I didn’t expect to be happy during the dance but seeing the kids be happy did actually make the difference in my overall experience.
When I supervised food and drinks, I gained some one-on-one time with the kids. I got to hear about their lives for a while when they’d come and get their food. Every year I say that “I was stupid the year before”, but I wasn’t so much as stupid but rather naive. I was naive, because I thought that the Special Needs Dance was just for the special needs kids at Barlow, but there were kids from the whole Portland area who attended. Not only that, but the mayor of Gresham was there also.
From where I was sitting I had a great view of the kids dancing and having fun despite their disabilities. One shy kid even started doing PSY’s Gangnam Style dance in front of everyone. That kid has more guts than I will ever have and he was younger than me. While
serving diet soda my mind wandered off, and I started to question why God would do this. I doubt these kids did anything bad to deserve living with a disability. It still makes me sad when I see people in general with any disability, but I know that everything happens for a reason.
Since the dance, I’ve become less self absorbed and when I can, I try to make it easier for those kids. Most people don’t open a door for the kid in the wheelchair or they get irritated at their slow pace in the hallways, but I don’t mind, because I know they have it hard. I know that the Special Needs Dance and Prom are something that these kids look forward to every single year. Some even go all out, getting their dresses and hair done. Volunteering at that one dance has made me realize that my problems are insignificant compared to other people’s problems. Thanks to that dance I have participated with their Prom and I even took two special needs kids to Spring Fest, a carnival held every two years at Sam Barlow High School, and hung out with them.
Soon after I had a sudden realization that these kids aren’t different from us. Yes, they have disabilities, but they enjoy the same music as us; they enjoy people’s company; and they’re happy. They don’t need anyone, including me, to baby them, because they want us to look past their disabilities and to treat them as an equal. I mean they have the guts to dance without one single care in the world of what people think. That’s courage that some of us, including me, don’t have and we have nothing physically stopping us. These kids don’t need us to make their lives “easier”, they’re independent like we are. If I had my mom doing everything for me, I’d be annoyed and that’s probably how they feel. I shouldn’t be so quick to
judge them, because they’re capable of doing things that anyone else can do.