Seeing pictures of my friends from 2023’s Special Olympics Family Festival in Lake Land’s Student life office, I got curious and asked, what and where was this? The common word everyone said when I asked was “fun,” and anything fun, I am always interested.
A table for the Special Olympics was set up at Lake Land’s Student Life open house on Aug. 28, where I got more information about it and signed up. I learned that volunteering would add volunteer hours to my transcript, which personally was like getting rewarded for having fun
On Sept. 18, an orientation was held in Luther Student Centre’s Theater where volunteers like me learned the history of SOFF, what to expect from the event and what is expected of us. We were introduced to the theme which was “Under the Sea” and the color code for t-shirts. From the orientation, it was evident that everyone’s best interest is at heart, from the physical health of volunteers to that of the athletes, down to the very last detail.
On the morning of the event, I went to the west building to check in and get my t-shirt, which was blue for volunteers and red for the athletes. Then, I made my way to the Field House to get paired with an athlete, I became nervous because that was my first time volunteering at an event that big. I ended up getting paired with an athlete named Tyson. He was from Taylorville, and we got along immediately. It wasn’t his first SOFF, but it was mine and he understood that.
After the parade, we had fun around the tents before heading for lunch and went back into the Field House because the weather was hot. In there, he told me all about camp and I met people that he had been to camp with, people that would be with him in the next camp and his past friends-for-a-day. At 1 p.m. we went back outside to watch the Elvis Tribute by Landon James but couldn’t watch it till the end because of the hot temperature.
At the end we had to go our separate ways, I had to leave him to get back to Taylorville and I have to admit, even though it was just for a day, I felt a bit heartbroken having to let him go. But then again, I might not be his friend-for-a-day at the next SOFF, but I look forward to seeing him smile and be happy. The festival helped me realize there is so much in this world that I haven’t done but being a friend-for-a-day is officially off my bucket list.
