Special Friend

A year ago, I had the amazing opportunity to work with children with special needs for my internship. I realized I had a love for this area of work a year and a half prior to that when I stumbled across a job working with adults with special needs the summer I stayed in Rexburg. When I had the chance to do an internship in a preschool setting with children, I jumped on it. Three days a week I got to work with one specific little boy with Autism. Some days were really difficult for me and I wanted to be done with the day before it even started. However, there were also some amazing days...and they always made up for the bad days. Throughout the semester, we learned some tricks to help him get through the day. I got to spend some time with my little friend playing outside. I also found some inside activities such as sorting and puzzles that he enjoyed and did really well at. Being able to spend one-on-one time with him on the especially good days were amazing. It was also wonderful to be able to help him calm down and relax on the days that were more difficult for him.

During the time I was working with this boy, I didn't realize what a blessing it was to me. He has such a sweet spirit. There is one thing with him that is different than most people with Autism and that is that he makes eye contact. He has the most beautiful blue eyes that would make your heart melt when he looked at you. I could have been so frustrated with the games he was playing and he would just look at me and the frustration almost completely faded away. The last memory I have of him was as he was leaving on the last day of preschool and he gave me a kiss on the cheek. I think it made up for all the difficult days I had experienced with him for three months.

Now, I am at working at another center and am back with adults again. Last week, I went to a work meeting that focused on supporting people with Autism. Rather than listen like I really should have been doing, I found myself thinking about my friend from preschool and how much I miss him. I can't help but hope he has continued to improve and is doing well now, hopefully in Kindergarten.

Change

Change is a good thing...sometimes. It is definitely good when it takes my bedroom from looking like this...to this...

Or when the weather goes from cold and snowy to warm and sunny.

But what about those times when it's not so good? Like when you are woken up from an amazing sleep...

...Or when a less than ideal situation goes from bad to worse. Sometimes things don't go the way we want them to. When that happens, there are two choices. In Mary Englebreit's words, "If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it." Those are the options. I have found that the second option is the one I have the hardest time accepting, even though it's probably the more important of the two. However, when I do decided to just change my attitude, life seems so much better. It makes me wonder why I don't just remember that all the time.

Here We Go!

I decided to start a blog...mostly thanks to my amazing roommate. :) Sometimes I find that I really want to write about things, but Facebook just isn't always the way to go. So, I guess this is what it comes down to.

For example, tonight I was part of the most awkward/funny/embarrassing hottub conversation. For a lot of the time, I was the only girl surrounded by seven guys (not bad, in my opinion). That was interesting because girls and guys talk about completely different things...I knew that before, but was again reminded how different we are. I became the center of the conversation when one of the guys asked if I was a "True Dart," meaning I had kissed someone through the "D" at my high school. The answer was no. Then for some reason, I continued on saying that even now, I have yet to kiss anyone. That is where most of the embarrassement came from. These random guys that I had never met would not let it go. I was glad it was dark because I'm sure I was bright red because I was so amazingly embarrassed. Anyways, I guess really what it comes down to is this: Note to self...don't mention things like the fact that I haven't kissed anyone when surrounded by only guys, especially guys I don't know. I definitely won't ever make that mistake again.