I was 14 years old. I stood under the warm sun on a Sunday morning with my soccer team, all of us tired from the long two weeks of double sessions we had. My team had participated in a program in my community called Buddy Ball, where you spend an hour each week with a child with special needs and play a sport with them. I had been nervous, unsure of how it was gonna go, but then Sam ran over to me and that was when my life had changed.
Sam was one of the buddys. He was born with down syndrome, but he had never let that stop him from doing something he had set his eye on. He showed up like a bull in a china shop and rammed into me. He dragged me to the goal and must’ve taken at least 100 shots before he would even tell me his name. He finally had gotten tired and finally started to talk to me. From that day on I spent almost every single Sunday of my entire high school career with Sam.
Sam was quite frankly one of the best kids I have ever met. He also happened to be the best soccer, basketball, track, and baseball player but maybe I am just a little biased. He had completely changed my life. Before knowing Sam, I knew I had always wanted to be a teacher. I wanted to do elementry education and teach general education and maybe get my concentration in english or history. After knowing Sam though, I could not see myself being anything other than an special education teacher for elementary students. The one hour I spent every week with him had been some of my favorite high school memories.
There comes moments in your life that shape you as who you are as an individual. For me, that moment was meeting Sam. The whole idea of Buddy Ball is for the older high school students to help the buddys and make their day. But that is not how it was for mine and Sam’s relationship. I looked forward to seeing him every week and he had helped me become a better person. I am forever grateful for him coming into my life.
