An Afternoon At Special Olympics Showcase

Earlier this week, I had the honor of attending the Special Olympics Showcase in MiaoLi.

Thank you Freda Feng, the President of Special Olympics Asia Branch, for inviting and arranging an amazing day trip!!
On a deeper note…

I actually had a difficult time gathering my thoughts for this recap… Watching and embracing the Special Olympics Athlete’s performances was, to say the least, bittersweet. Many thoughts, emotions, and questions (some contradicting each other) washed over me like a tsunami…
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One particular thought was, “Can you imagine how powerful and intelligent these amazing kids would be if they were without disabilities?” To me, they are completely climbing an intellectual and physical mountain. An uphill battle to just do the “basic” daily things we often take for granted… Yet they still go above and beyond what is expected… The thought that came next was, “what about the children and adults without disabilities? Are they (including me) applying that same tenacity and drive to live life to the fullest? To make the possible, and often times, needed impact in this world?

Now what about the parents? The task of educating and taking care of children already is an extremely difficult task… To add the extra attention, effort, everything really, just pulls at my heart… especially after realizing this is a life long responsibility…

And the teachers? They are truly out of this world. Spending their time educating the next generation to try and build a better future and community. The patience and compassion they have is on another level… This is something we all can learn and be better at…

Overall, this experience was one of the best I’ve had in a while. I definitely recommend people to support, or at least take some time to learn about the Special Olympics!!