Understanding a different way to succeed by Ryane

Understanding a different way to succeed by Ryane - March 2024 Scholarship Essay

For the past three years, and still currently, I have volunteered with the Special Olympics program at my high school. I have a brother with special needs, who was once a part of this program, so it is an honor to give back at every opportunity I can. I love to see the joy on their faces when they have improved at a skill they struggled with just a few months earlier. If they win a medal for that skill, the joy on their faces is just indescribable. It makes me feel so fulfilled to see them grow and succeed.

I have also volunteered with the same group of special education students as an adaptive PE leader. In this program, I got to spend time working with these students in modified PE activities. I witnessed the different ways they communicate, their challenges with doing tasks that we find so simple, and the frustration they face when unable to complete a task that they think in their minds they should be able to. I also witnessed first-hand my brother having a very difficult time with the regular PE class in the high school. He was asked to do things like run the mile with his typical performing peers, but he was not able to complete tasks like that. Sadly, he was given grades that reflected that and made him feel very poorly about himself. I am so glad this program was developed to allow this student population to achieve things that THEY can achieve and feel good about without forcing them to perform as their typical peers without disabilities do. We do not all need to run the mile to feel successful. Success comes in different forms for different students. For my friends in this program just running a lap or two in the gym might be a huge success for them.

I also volunteered as a job coach at the café at our school. I assisted this same group with performing their jobs of running a small coffee café in the cafeteria. I helped them with collecting payment, making change, fulfilling orders and socializing with the customers. Hearing them talk to others about their “job” and how proud they sound about going to “work” brings a smile to my face every week.

So it is not just one individual I learned from, but a group of students who just happen to do things a little different than I do, and communicate in a different way. I learned from my time with this group of students that if you just spend a little time learning what excites them, what drives them and what they are skilled at, there are many things we can do to support them in their lives through adulthood. Volunteering with this group all of these years has been such a valuable lesson to me. I now know how rewarding it feels to give back and make a difference in people’s lives, which I will continue to do throughout my life.

In the future, I hope to be able to create job training opportunities for people with special needs to learn skills at their own pace and become gainfully employed adults. Everyone needs a reason to get up in the morning and feel good about themselves. This population of adults is often overlooked or treated as if their challenges stop them from being able to be productive or helpful in a business environment.