A Saturday Blessing

This weekend we decided to branch out from what we would normally do as a team on a Saturday: sleep in as late as we can, grab breakfast at the Hop, hit the training room for ice and stim, and then head to a two-hour practice in Leede. This past Saturday we decided, as a team, to volunteer at the Special Olympics Winter Games at the Dartmouth Skiway. What a great decision it was.

We all piled in our cars and left campus at 8:30 in the morning. We made it to the Skiway, checked in, grabbed donuts and hot chocolate, took some toe and hand warmers and got on with our day by heading to the opening ceremonies. After the opening ceremonies, we were assigned to be cheerleaders at the snow shoeing games. Alright ... cheerleading ... was pumped.

After the gun went off and the first heat started and my entire team began to cheer like we do against Harvard, reality hit me in the face — we were making a difference in the lives of all of the Special Olympic athletes because of our enthusiasm and simple desire to fuel excitement into the snowshoe competitors. We as a basketball team were completely engaged in the competition for three hours by making tunnels for the athletes to run through, escorting athletes to the starting line, running papers with times back and forth between the competition and the winners podium. I was awe-struck by the Special Olympics athletes.

All of the athletes in the snow-shoeing race showed what a team should exemplify. They encouraged one another if they happened to fall down in the snow, they were excited for each others' 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th place finishes, they high-fived each other, gave each other meaningful pats on the back and most importantly, they appeared to be happy not for themselves, but for everyone performing around them. The smiles plastered across their faces and the glimmer in their eyes made my week.

Volunteering at The Special Olympics acted as a battery re-charger, a soul rejuvenator and wake-up call that life isn’t all about us as Dartmouth athletes. It’s so easy to get wrapped up in the hype that surrounds the women’s basketball team and the bubble that we are in at Dartmouth College. This experience was truly a blessing for our team and we definitely squeezed out as much time as we could with the athletes at the Special Olympics until it was time to travel back to campus and take part in Saturday’s practice.

- Michelle Meyer ’10

Photos courtesy of Kylie Kufeld ’13. Click to enlarge.