Best Buddies Reflective Essay

For the last three semesters, I have been attending Holyoke Community College as a full-time student. While doing so I have been working part time as a Sales Associate at the Westfield BonTon. Due to being a full-time student, working part time and having household responsibilities I haven’t participated in much of my college’s activities/clubs. However, I do take part in helping arrange study groups for the more challenging classes I am taking for my classmates and I. In my spare time, I enjoy bringing my dog to the dog park in Westfield/Agawam and bringing him to Stanley Park to walk the trails.
When I was a student at Westfield High School I participated in a variety of clubs and sports. I was on the High School Cross Country team for my freshman and sophomore year while playing Basketball for the Armory all the way up to my senior year. I was also a member of Key
I have made so many everlasting bonds and memories that I will forever cherish. Best Buddies allowed me to connect with kids who have disabilities (Autism, Down Syndrome, Williams Syndrome, Fragile X, Cerebral palsy and much more) or better more gave my peers who had disabilities a chance to connect with me and the other members of Best Buddies. In Best Buddies, I had the opportunity to do fun after school activities, go on field trips and even a Best Buddies prom which was everyone’s favorite! One of my fondest memories was around Christmas time, where my best friend and I along with our friend Matty who had Down Syndrome, stood outside Westfield Walmart for hours trying to raise donations for the salvation army. I remember whenever someone donated Matty would get so excited, he felt so accomplished, he would say “we did it, we did it”. All the donations made him so thrilled that when ringing the bell to get people’s attention, he was ringing it so hard that it caused the ball inside the bell that causes the ringing noise to get