All is well that ends well! Pema Wangzome's Final Post

With a bag full of memories and some new skills that I picked, I am ready to face the coming days. Looking back at the past year, I feel like August was some ten years ago, not because it was plain but because I have learnt so much. Summit has been a wonderful learning and living experience that I know I will never forget. The classes have all been informative and insightful. And the project that my roommates and I worked on was delightful! The project started off very well. We had a lot of interested volunteers show up to help us with our project. I am very thankful for all those who came to help and support us.

Although I was a bit hesitant in the beginning since I wasn't sure of the areas of special needs the kids required, I quickly moved past that because I had my roommates and I wasn't alone. And my past experience in working with special needs children helped me be confident in interacting and guiding the kids.

With a good winter break, I came back fully charged to make some more differences in these kids’ lives. Alas, our community partner was busy so things didn't go as well as we had hoped. We had but one successful event this whole semester.

Though we had some bumpy rides on the way, the fact that we are standing together now, smiling at each other says it all. I am very glad I had the opportunity to live in Summit and carry out the project we chose. I would like to thank my roommates for the wonderful memories that we shared! I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Courtney swan for, forever being so patient and doing the best for us. Thank you!

                 -Pema Wangzome

Suzy Bartek's Final Post

Wow, it's hard to believe that it's already been a whole school year since we first moved into summit. Time sure does fly by doesn't it. I don't know about everyone else, but I definitely thought it went by really fast. What's even more interesting is the fact that I know I've changed a lot since my first month here in summit, and it wasn't just the project that was changing me. See, I thought I knew my roommates when I first agreed to move in with them, but living with people is completely different from knowing people. We grew and really bonded together during our time here, and I am honestly going to miss having them around next year. I mean I will see them around on campus and we will all hang out, but somehow I know it's not going to be the same. Maybe it'll be better, maybe it'll just be different...who honestly knows. No matter what happens though I was very glad to have this opportunity to live in summit and experience this project with the people I did. I feel like I grow a little more each year in college, and this will definitely be a year I'll never forget. If there is one thing I learned from the summit experience it would be to never expect anything to go correctly! Just kidding! But seriously, it's to expect the unexpected and figure out ways to always see the brighter side of every situation. If you do that, you'll find yourself not as stressed and more capable of dealing with situations easier. All in all I do not regret my time here in summit, and all the trial and hardships we went through individually and as a group has done nothing but provide us with more experience. So with that I would like to end by saying that I hope everyone has a great summer! See you next year!
                  -Suzy Bartek

Shelby Hoover's Final Post

      Summit Leadership Park has been an exciting and educational experience for me this year. Though our community service project, Special Olympics-Young Athletes Program, I learned a lot about myself as a leader and accomplished a lot by giving back to the community. In the Young Athletes Program, we a handful of children by giving them experience in playing different sports such as baseball, soccer, basketball and more. I also learned more about planning an event of a larger scale. It takes a lot of prior planning, teamwork and patience. Ultimately, though, I formed relationships with the children that came to our program and with my fellow Summit Park team members.

        Summit Park has helped me realize exactly how I am a leader and what I look for in fellow leaders. It has also helped me by giving me further insight in working with a team. It at times was be difficult to find times when everyone is available with the busy schedules that we all had and other unforeseen circumstances but we found ways to work around this and produce a project that we can be happy with. I have grown as a leader and I feel more confident in my role as part of a team, as am individually and in the community.

           -Shelby Hoover

Emily Stebbins Final Post

        Although everything did not go according to plan this year, our Summit Group still accomplished what we initially set out to do. We only reached a few children, but that is better than none. I am happy with the bonds we formed with the children and what we learned about working with special needs children.

       This semester, we only help two Young Athletes Programs. This was due to some scheduling difficulties with our community sponsor. Although we would have loved to hold four to eight YAP’s, two is better than none. We got to work with a child that we saw last semester as well. It was nice to have a returning child to help him further.

       Overall, our group learned a lot from living in Summit. We learned about how to work in a group. We all realized that there are some aspects of team work that we are good at and other areas that we need to work on. As a whole, our group worked very well together which made everything much easier. Summit was a good experience that we all learned from.

        For me, specifically, I learned that I need to work on communication with my other group members. I have no problem taking the initiative to get things done. But, I often times forget to keep my group members up to date on the progress that we are making. This is something that I am confident that I can work on to improve. 

               -Emily Stebbins