Hi friends!!! I’m very excited to be writing a blog post for the William & Mary Best Buddies website! :) My name is Courtney & I’m a freshman who recently joined Best Buddies in the Fall. In Best Buddies, I am a Peer Buddy and am part of the PR Committee.
I joined Best Buddies for many reasons. With a new college experience ahead of me, I was eager to learn and expose myself to new things. In high school, I was involved with clubs that allowed me to learn about different individuals; however, I had never been in an environment where I was pushed to learn about inclusivity and to advocate for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Leading up to college in the fall, I increasingly saw the importance of gaining compassion and a level of understanding for people with different experiences, and while I had never interacted with people with IDD, I saw Best Buddies as an exciting and new effort I wanted to be involved in. I immediately knew that joining Best Buddies at William & Mary would be life-changing.
I had attended all of the club-wide meetings early on in the year, but I found myself eager to get super involved. I signed up for an interview to become a peer buddy, and I also expressed interest in joining the PR Committee. I was so excited when I was chosen to be a peer buddy and join the PR Committee! I learned through the Match Party (over Zoom of course) that I would be joining Soph to be a peer buddy to Erica!
While COVID-19 has caused most interactions with the club and my buddy Erica to be over Zoom and text, Best Buddies has kept both the club members and buddies engaged. I was still able to have a socially-distanced Colonial Williamsburg date with Erica and Soph; we walked around town, stopped by Kilwin’s, and caught up with each other. In addition to the meet-ups, Zoom has been an easy and accessible way to keep in touch with everyone.
The holiday season is extremely fun for the club, and this year’s virtual parties did not disappoint. When it came to Thanksgiving and Christmas, our club-wide Zoom parties brought together club members and our buddies to celebrate the holidays, even during a time of stress and isolation. It’s amazing to see everyone’s uplifting and positive spirits through the computer screen and still be able to enjoy holiday trivia, paper snowflake-making, and virtual dance parties!
For me, I was able to enjoy the holiday season with Erica through the Thanksgiving and Christmas Zoom parties, as well as through text messaging. Erica, Soph, and I all keep in touch while on break. I was also able to send Erica a Christmas card and a friendship bracelet I made in Best Buddies colors!
The PR Committee has also been busy over winter break, working hard to keep the club and community engaged through social media, as well as brainstorming about Spread the Word coming up in March.
My experience with Best Buddies has been a brand-new one, but an extremely rewarding one to say the least. I am so proud to be a part of an organization that represents something so important, and I am grateful for the new experiences that Best Buddies have given me and for meeting my new friend Erica. I can’t wait for what’s in store for the future of W&M Best Buddies! :)
Comments