Adaptive Sports Association
Sophomore Inspire Week Reflection
Description: For my sophomore inspire week, I worked with the Adaptive Sports Association. The Adaptive Sports Association helps people with cognitive and physical disabilities get out and play. The sophomores' roles for that week were to shadow instructors and volunteers and help with teaching and anything else that needed to get done. I had 4 different students that week, ranging in age and disabilities. So, when I was on the hill with these students I was mostly encouraging them, making sure they’re having fun, and helping maintain mountain traffic so our students could stay safe.
- My biggest takeaway from my week of working with the Adaptive Sports Association was walking away with a bigger sense of appreciation and gratefulness. All my life, I have been able to walk, snowboard, skateboard, and bike. It was given to me and I didn’t know any difference. But being able to work with people with cognitive and physical challenges provided me with the ability to reflect on how fortunate myself and others I surround myself with are. This week also allowed me to realize that people with these challenges are just as capable as the rest of us.
- The biggest skills from school that helped me during my sophomore inspire week were patience . When I am using skiing on my own time, I tend to just go, I don’t stop a lot during runs. But when I was on the hill with the adaptive students, I forgot what it was like to be a beginner and what it was like being around beginners. So learning how to be patient in school reflected really well when I had to for example ski on the bunny hill all day, or when I had to wait for students to take breaks. One skill that I learned during my sophomore inspire week that can help me in school is gratitude. During my week, I became super grateful for my health and the things I am able to do. This can help in school because I need to be more grateful for my education. I am happy that I have the opportunity to go to school.
- During my inspire week I was constantly practicing good time management. Everyday that I showed up, I was able to be there early in order to get ready. Whenever I got there, I got my gear on, I introduced myself with my instructors, and looked at the file of the students I was having that day. I noticed that when I had big chunks of work time I was always focused and aware of what I had to do and accomplish. I knew that when I was needed I was doing my best. And when I had time when I wasn’t needed I was able to go take some runs or help clean up the facility.
- The biggest connections between my YouScience results and my inspire week that showed was how I am a 3d visualizer and that I am a collaborative planner. One of the attributes of being a 3d visualizer was that I enjoy working with physical structures rather than just an idea. This showed best when I was working with students. When an instructor asked me how I thought we could best help the student I thought by showing them. I thought that while giving a student on how to do something, it was more helpful for them to see what they can work on and how to do it. And I felt that my skills of being a collaborative planner worked best when I was discussing the plan for the day with the instructors and students. I was able to listen to the ideas as well as contribute ideas.
- My advice for incoming sophomores is to find a way to incorporate your hobbies into the week that you choose. All of the ideas sounded really cool, but because my inspire week was surrounded by being on the snow and then being able to help others get out on snow so I had to choose it. I felt that because I was interested and was super excited about my week it made it ten times better. Another piece of advice I have is to try and make the best out of your week. Try and really insert yourself and get interested in the work that you are doing.