Personal Narrative: My First Special Olympics

347 Words2 Pages
I was quivering--though not from the chilling winter breeze that enveloped me as I approached entrance door of the gymnasium, but rather from the prospect of interacting with an unfamiliar group of people. During the winter of last year, headed to my first Special Olympics Basketball practice of many, I did little to conceal my anxiety; an obvious display of concern patterned my face as I confronted a bombardment of second-thoughts. At the time, my perception of the special-needs community had been laced with the unfortunate stereotypes common of many people today. I had presumed that they would be hard to teach, that they would be unpredictable, and that they would be overwhelmingly awkward. As such, I felt ill-equipped to lead the Olympians