Positivity in the Community

Our community partner was the Special Olympics of Missouri. Even more specifically, we focused on the Young Athletes Program which was for special needs children from ages 3 to 8. Our project wasn’t focused on an “issue” in the community. Rather, the Special Olympics are about giving opportunities and chances to those who might not normally receive those, specifically with sports.

One of the biggest reasons that I really loved working with the Special Olympics was due to their positive impact in the community.

Personally, this has really opened my eyes and helped me learn to interact and teach students with special needs. As a future educator, this is a necessary skill. I’m glad that I will have an opportunity to work with these types of students before I start teaching.

It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

The past few months of dedication to Young Athletes Program, Special Olympics has taught me a lot of things. I have learnt that while giving something, you are not losing anything. In fact, the joy that you see in the other person’s face after you help them is much more valuable than the help you render.

The service project really opened my eyes to the many different opportunities to help, here in Springfield. The fact that there are so many organizations, willing to help anybody makes me very proud of humanity. It is a valuable piece of my experience here in the United States that I am taking back home, to my country. Until my graduation, I wish to continue to volunteer when ever possible, especially in the field of special Olympic since I have picked up skills from the service project and also from my past volunteer experience at a vocational institute for the intellectually challenged in 2011. The skills will make it easier and give me more confidence to deal with mentally/physically challenged people.

How Volunteering Lead to More Volunteering

The Mission Statement of the Special Olympics is:

“The mission of Special Olympics is to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community. “(Taken from Special Olympics Website)

The mission of the Special Olympics is a great one that we really wanted to base our summit project on. Instead of using the idea of trying to help out an event that was already in place, we as a group thought it would be even better if we were able to set up an event here at Drury that would be geared towards the younger kids in the Special Olympics. We thought that this would make more of an impact considering that Springfield doesn’t have a lot of programs specifically for special needs children in this age group.

We ran into a lot of troubles along the way, but I still feel like we made a difference. With the kids we got we were able to see improvement in them by the end of the night. However, I would have to say that the biggest difference I see is in our summit group. We all were able to learn something from this experience, if not just the fact that organizing an event is not as easy as we thought it would be.  I am from St. Louis, and being from St. Louis I started off having the thought that when it comes to volunteering there are so many other people in the city that none of those volunteer groups need any help from me.  I know it’s a silly thought, but I just figured I wouldn’t know how to help them out. Just by looking at our experience down here with trying to organize an event shows me how difficult and frustrating it can be at times. So, because of my experience here in Springfield I plan on trying to volunteer while at home a lot more.

Special Olympics Impacts Future Teacher

                Being a part of an organization like the Special Olympics has taught me a lot about individuals with Special Needs. A program like the Special Olympics gives children and adults the experiences they should be given. Before becoming involved with the Special Olympics, I was not aware of the wonderful organizations in the area devoted to providing support, encouragement and experiences to individuals with Special Needs. After helping with the Special Olympics only a few times, I quickly realized how necessary these organizations are to the community. The Special Olympics puts focus on promoting friendships within families, between other Special Olympics athletes and the community. Particularly, for our project, we helped in the Young Athletes Program for children ages three to nine. This gives younger children the chance to become involved in the Special Olympics at a young age and gives them the opportunity to discover different sports and develop physical fitness before they enter the Special Olympics at the age of 12. The Young Athletes Program is one of the only programs specifically for children of this age group and gives younger children the opportunity to have experiences that they might not otherwise have had before the Special Olympics.

                Working with the Special Olympics has impacted me personally on many levels. The Special Olympics has connected me and given me experiences in working with children with Special Needs. As a future teacher, this will be helpful in the classroom and will allow me to enhance the personal bonds I make with my students.  As a community, the Special Olympics’ encourages everyone to be involved and help those around them and to create friendships, share your gifts and share your skills with others.

Communication and Conflict Resolution: The Listener

           The class presentation over communication I believed to be very helpful. We received a lot of handouts with important information on it for discussing ways to talk to people, and then did two activities where we discussed our conflict management style, and then wrote out three subject conflicts. Two of the handouts where I found information to be particularly important are the handouts “9 Healthy ways to Communicate” and “35 dumb Things Well-Intended People Say”. Sometimes when a person is upset, I find it difficult to figure out what exactly to say to them to make them feel better. I can consider this my weakness in communication because sometimes while talking to someone if I don’t know what to say I will just sit there and listen instead of responding to the situation. The handout on “9 Healthy ways to communicate” helped to sort of walked us through the steps of what to say to someone when trying to communicate. Also, I must admit that I found some of the 35 dumb things well-intended people say funny; however, I understand that the things said on the list are also important because some of the things on there I had heard being said to me when I was having a hard time. I would consider my personal strength in communication my ability to listen. Listening has to be my strength and my weakness. It’s my strength because it show’s people that I truly care about them and makes them feel more likely to open up to me. However, it is also a weakness because in tense situations I sometimes tend to let other people speak up over me.

            To better communicate with my summit team I believe we should start having out own summit group meetings without our advisor there just so we can discuss the plans that need to be made. I believe this will re-open communication in the household. To improve on how I handle conflict as a leader, I will have to start practicing voicing my opinions more in tense situations while still retaining my ability to listen to what others have to say. Basically I plan on finding a healthy balance between the two. 

         -Suzy B.

Communication and Conflict Resolution: Collaborating Owl

From the What’s your conflict management style exercise, I came to know that my dominant animal style is the owl. Owls use a collaborating or problem confronting conflict management. With the owls, it is a win-win on all sides. Owls takes into consideration the other side’s opinions and tries to find a solution that works out for both the sides. The disadvantage is that it takes a long time to collaborate and find solutions.

And I must admit that, that is very true. I have always believed that confrontation is the best solution since while doing so, the problem is laid out in front which makes it easier to find solutions together. Although it is a great conflict solving solution, I have noticed that it doesn’t always work out, because there is always a possibility of intimidating the other person, or the other person may not be willing to talk.

My biggest strength in solving conflict would be my ability to be the first one to talk to the person I am having conflicts with. My weakness would be that I give only one chance, after I make the first move and the other person still does not respond, I tend to give up.
            -Pema W.

Communication and Conflict Resolution: Open Minds

Our presentation about communication and conflict resolution was informative. Although many of the things said are common sense, they usually aren’t discussed. It is good to bring them to the forefront of our minds to reflect and see what we are doing correctly, or not. Personally, I feel that my greatest communication strength is that there isn’t anything that I won’t discuss with someone. I have no problem feeling “uncomfortable,” as long as it is important to discuss the issue. My greatest weakness is that I don’t communicate about plans, goals, etc. in great detail unless someone asks me, specifically. I often forget to keep others informed. If I want to know about something, I simply ask the person. I never wait for them to tell me. Even though I know it is unfair, I expect others to do the same with me. If they want to know about details, they’ll have to ask me. To communicate in a more efficient manner with my Summit Group, I need to start forcing myself to keep the other members of the group informed. To become a better leader, I need to handle conflict resolution in a more direct way. Normally, if something is troubling someone else, I just let them figure it out. I listen if they want to talk, but I’m not going to sit down with them and ask about their specific problems. I should work on opening the lines of communication more, especially if it is clear that someone needs to talk and hash some things out.

-Emily