Personal Narrative: My First Week Of Special Olympics

I was born to run. I adore the feeling of aching legs, winded breath, and the absolute joy of knowing I have accomplished something so utterly momentous: winning a race. When I run, I feel strong and vivacious both on the inside and on the outside. Last year, I decided to join the high school cross-country team. I was extremely excited and could not wait for practice to begin, but I was also somewhat nervous. What if I was not talented enough? What if my skills were not competent enough? What if the coaches thought I was just… mediocre? I was so nervous, I began to doubt and feel dubious about my running potentiality.

In 2013 I attended my first special olympics event, I was so nervous because I had never been around special needs kids and didn’t know how to act or treat them, but the kids made it so easy. Now each year I attend at least four special olympics events and I have the amazing opportunity to travel with the kids to Special Olympics State at Troy University for a weekend. My aunt, Nan Franks is who I thank for introducing me to the sweetest kids I have ever met and also who I thank for giving me so many opportunities to spend time with them. Watching the boys and girls grow and excel over the years gives me an amazing feeling, watching them finally grasp something or finally learning how to say a word or winning a prize at special olympics, I

Cheer Athletics in Plano is one of the most prestigious competition gyms in the country. There are other Cheer Athletics’ branches in other places like Frisco and Austin, but not one is as successful as Plano. It is the absolute best place to go for a serious cheerleader. The best and most experienced coaches work there and they are hungry to win. They expect every ounce of energy and athleticism to be left on the floor when we are finished performing. I have never had any problems with an authority figure until I started at Cheer Athletics.

I heard crowds around me cheering names I didn’t recongnize. I looked down at my feet, running spikes on them, and turf beneath them. When someone yelled my name my trance is broken. The voice told me to lead the stretches. Was not until then did I actually realize I am running first leg at the 2013 Penn Relays Carnival.

One time when playing travel baseball my team played in a 16 youth tournament , and we were the only 14 and 15 year old team. We were a very small team in size and numbers , but we had a great amount of talent for our size and age. The tournament took place in Columbus Ohio. We were the only team from Tennessee in the tournament , and we worked very hard all year to make it to the tournament. We played up in pretty much every tournament all season , so we came prepared to see some very talented and big teams. Sure enough we showed up to our hotel the first day arriving and there were tons of teams staying in the same hotel , and by the looks of these teams we were by far the smallest team. The next day was the start of the tournament and we

As a former gymnast, cheerleading was never something I planned on doing. In the gymnastics world, cheer was hated. Gymnasts everywhere claimed that cheerleading “stole” tumbling from us. So when I made the Junior Varsity team my freshman year, I expected the worst. Looking back, cheer has taught me more life lessons in the past four years than gymnastics ever did in the ten years I was a gymnast.

I had the opportunity to complete my service-learning hours with the North Carolina Special Olympics and the Golden Living Center. The North Carolina Special Olympics provides youth and young adults with disabilities the opportunity to train and play in sporting tournaments. Without fundraising events, the North Carolina Special Olympics would not be able to provide free the athletes with equipment, uniforms, training facilities, housing, and meals. It also spreads awareness of this incredible non-profit. I completed 12 service learning hours volunteering at two Special Olympics fundraising events: softball tournament and motorcycle run. At the softball tournament I participated in various activities throughout the day such as registering the

Special Olympics transforms lives through the joy of sports, every day, everywhere. They are the world’s largest sports organization for people with intellectual disabilities. It reaches more than 4.5 million athletes in 170 countries, along with millions of volunteers and supporters. Every day, Special Olympics inspires hope, confidence, and courage. Not only do they change the lives of our athletes, but also the lives of our coaches, families, volunteers and others who have the opportunity to take part. Having sport in common is just one more way that preconceptions and false ideas are swept away. Unified sports is all about social inclusion and that’s why we started the Patrick Henry UniPHied Track Team. Patrick Henry UniPHied Track Team

This semester in Adapted Physical Education, I have learned quite a bit. I think that the most valuable part of the class was the Special Olympics field experience. The journals and videos you showed in class were also beneficial. Although I knew about different disabilities already, it was interesting to read and learn about how they affect those in a physical education setting, not just in a normal classroom setting.

As a track runner, it is a necessity to be relaxed yet focused and determined. When I participate in track meets or even at practices, I receive a comforting warmth just by stepping onto the track. I feel as though burdens and worries temporarily lift from my shoulders. One may wonder how this can make someone content with their surroundings instead of nervous and uneasy based upon their environment and luckily for me this is an uncomplicated notion to explain. Unlike particular people, the track calms me and gives me a place to clear my head. I work relentlessly to achieve my goals, nevertheless it also gives me the clearance and space I need to effectively work my hardest whether it be a physical goal I am working to achieve

As the sun’s nutritious rays fuel my body; sweat races down my back and accumulates into the threads of my cotton t-shirt. I peer over my neighborhood park fence and gaze over the spacious scenery. The track field was well in shape, free of small debris and ready for a test run and light jump activities in the sand-pit. Soon enough the high temperature fills my head, leaving me in a state of allusion. Images of my friends and I sporadically unfold in front of me and unto the track; as if being placed in a desert mirage. I feel a sense of peace and eagerness surge through my body, while the images continue to appear. Then, a whisper comes into the mix saying some sort of gibberish. Stepping a bit more cautiously then I regularly would I walked

“Sprinters don’t even do anything,” is what the distance runners say. “You guys hardly even run,” they go on. As a sprinter, I hear this a lot. Every year we get grief from them about how they think we don’t do anything and it’s very agitating. Track and field is supposed to be a team sport, although people do run in their separate events. Having the long distance runners always talk gossip and tell us we never do anything is just adding unnecessary drama. I hope some day they can learn to stop making perceptions of us.

I found my love for athletic activity at a young age. When I was 7 years old, I was enrolled in a YMCA summer program in Michigan. That is where it all started. My summer days were filled with various sport activities. Unfortunately, when I moved to California at the age of 10, I stopped playing sports for at least a year. However, during the rest of elementary school, throughout middle school, and in high school, I played different sports to figure out which one I liked best, which is now, Track & Field.

The most popular global organization that help people with disabilities to play and compete sports is the Special Olympics. The Special Olympics started in 1968, it was held in Chicago, Illinois and it only involved 26 U.S. states and Canada. According to the article “The Special Olympics-Paralympic Games relationship”, Traian Bocu states, “Special Olympics is the world’s largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, which provides competitions throughout the year with the participation of over 4.5 million athletes from 170 countries” (Bocu 299). Since the 1968, the Special Olympics has got over 80% of the worlds countries involved as competition participants. The Special Olympics gives a chance for people with disabilities all over the World to play sports. The Special Olympics helps people with disabilities to learn new skills, make new friends, gain fitness and confidence. The Kim Källstrom Trophy Tournament is the biggest soccer tournament for Special Olympics teams and it is part of the Gothia Cup (The World Youth Cup). It started in 2011 involving 21 Special Olympics teams from 7 different countries. Today, it involves 27 Special Olympics teams from 12 countries. The Special Olympics’ website also states, “The Swedish national team player and Russian top club Spartak Moscow player, Kim Kallstrom, took the initiative himself to provide young people with an intellectual disability the opportunity to be part of the Gothia Cup by including the Special Olympics category” (2013 Kim Källström Trophy a Great Success). Kim Källstrom is a famous soccer player in Europe from Sweden and he started this program to provide children with disabilities a chance to play soccer. This is an excellent program, it gives children with disabilities a chance to be active, travel to different places, and live a life like a famous athlete. These global programs help people with disabilities play sports. They provide sports that’ll benefit a person with disabilities in many ways. I think these programs are very helpful with people who have disabilities.

I actively participate in a variety of extracurricular activities. Both seeing a need and having an interest, I along with some other girls founded our school’s first Athletic Training Program during my freshman year. In the program, we educate students on common injuries seen in high school sports. As the head trainer for our school’s swim team and girl’s track team, I attend to athletes’ sore muscles, apply wraps, and provide assistance to our new trainers (2015-2018). I’m also a leader within my school’s division of Future Health Professionals of America(HOSA), helping to energize the students preparing for healthcare jobs in the future. I became one of the founding members of Stem Moms in 2014, a program that educates students about