Assisted Living Experience Essay

In eighth grade my class visited an assisted living facility for mentally challenged adults. When we arrived, we joined the residents in planting tomatoes and carrots in the garden. I worked with a man named Tom, and while we worked we connected by talking about the Astros and the Rockets. Later in the day, we were eating lunch and he told me how happy he was to have me come and work with him and how he always loves when people come see what he does every day. Seeing mentally challenged adults like Tom living normal lives made me realize that people often have misconceived notions about those who do not fit into the regular roles of society. This experience propelled me into service activities in high school.

As a result of this experience I decided to join an organization my friend had started called Kids …show more content…
This is a program where athletes pair with mentally disabled children to play baseball with them. Challenger Baseball was perfect for me because it brought together two of my passions: baseball and service. My first day, I was assigned to be the buddy for a little boy named Gionni. At first Gionni hid behind his dad and did not want to talk or play with me. Eventually he warmed up to me after I asked him about his Buzz Lightyear socks and we talked about Toy Story. Gionni and I have been Challenger buddies for four years now, and outside of the program he comes over to my house often so we can swim, play baseball, or golf. I have recently taken on the responsibility of the role of Senior Buddy. I lead all of the new Challenger buddies through the safety rules and coach the players how to hit and throw the ball if they haven’t played baseball before. I also supervise the games and make sure all the players have a safe, fun time on the baseball