Last year, my sister decided to take a season off from sports. It lasted about three days and then she announced that she wanted to participate in Unified Track. She’s a runner and has enjoyed some degree of success in cross country and basketball. I waited for her to get the paperwork to participate and decided to grab a packet myself. I thought that I would be responsible for driving her home from school; so maybe, I should see what this was all about.

I filled out the paperwork and turned it in with hers wondering what we could possibly do in Unified Sports. It turns out that Unified Sports are a way to pair special education students with general education students. I couldn’t remember the last time I had a special needs student in one of my classes and I really wasn’t sure what to expect. There were students with obvious physical disabilities and others with cognitive disabilities. Would I be able to communicate and partner with a student with autism?

Each week, we would have practice one or two times. I got to know some of the athletes and I strengthened my friendships with others. We worked together, participated side by side, accompanied students who were not supposed to travel alone. I ran around some, laughed a lot, an ended up on the team to compete at both the county and the state tournaments.

At the county championship, one teammate in a wheelchair was determined to run in the 400 m individual event. As I watched him round the last bend, I was overjoyed for him as he beamed confidence and accomplishment. The next week at the state competition, I was in a race with a teammate with autism. As we came down the last stretch I was about to pass him. He was a good runner, but after weeks of exercising, I had gained some speed. And then it hit me, cheer him on, celebrate his success. He crossed the finish line a step or two in front of me, but, I knew I was the winner.
I would never have imagined that I would have been filled with such joy and such pride. I would have never imagined that following my sister to an extracurricular activity would make me feel so good about helping others. I would have never imagined after being on plenty of basketball teams that being part of a team of special Olympians was a greater experience. Little did I know that a moment of getting some permission slips would change who I am today.