Special Olympics--Serina

On July 27, 2018 I volunteered as I do every year with my family for the special
olympics which is held at Cal State Long Beach. The Special Olympics is an event for those with mental, physical, and learning disabilities to participate in different sporting events. My family and I have been going ever since 2010 with my dad’s job, Frito Lay. On this Friday morning I remember when my family and I arrived there was a slight overcast and it was very humid. As we started to unload the car we grabbed the boxes of chips as well as the mascot costume ,Chester the Cheetah, as we were unloading the car we saw all of the competitors arriving with big similes on all of their faces and waving to us. When I saw all of these young adults excited to be there to compete i could not help but get be just as excited as they were to be there. After we unloaded the car my family and I made our way to the Frito Lay booth which was surrounded by many others and started to set up the beanbag game toss station as well as the facepaint area. While I was doing that, my older brother, Matt, got into the Chester the Cheetah costume and got ready to walk around and take pictures with all that came to the event. At around 8:00 pm the sun was shining bright and it was warming up and tons of people were arriving and going to all the different booths and having fun gaining prizes, taking pictures, playing games, but most importantly going supporting the athletes. As I was walking around Chester the Cheetah many of the competitors were ecstatic to see “the Cheeto guy.” They would come up to him with big smiles and my

brother would give them hugs and high fives as they came up to him. Seeing how everyone was reacting to him gave me a feeling of happiness and I felt so fortunate to be there. And, after awhile of walking we would take a break and go to a sporting event and cheer on everyone competing. This past year particularly was even more special to me because my uncle,who has down syndrome, was participating in the basketball event. Seeing him and his teammates compete and show off their skills was so amazing to watch and it gave me such a great feeling that knowing everyone in the audience was there supporting all of them. It almost was a shock for me seeing all these people there in support for them because I have seen many people look down upon those who have a disability. Growing up with a special needs uncle many people do not understand what discrimination they go through and how people want to limit them because they think they can not comprehend anything. However, they are some of the most smartest and strongest people I know. From these events it also taught me how a community of people can come together and support everyone and teach us that we should not limit anyone because everyone is capable of anything. This event also has steered me to my path of wanting to give back to these wonderful people who have disabilities and become a special needs teacher to teach them that no matter what disability they have they can do amazing things.