When I am not working within the LEAD Office, at church, or school, I am working with the Mason LIFE program. The Mason LIFE program offers students with special needs and learning disabilities the opportunity to have a college experience while still gaining practical living skills so that they can live and be successful on their own. Through this job I have learned what it means to be adaptable, patient, kind, understanding, and proactive. The students that I work with have different obstacles but none of which define them or keep them from achieveing their goals. I shop with them every Wednesday, cook with them every Thursday, and do fun activities Friday and Saturday. It is a blessing to work with this program and an awesome opportunity to learn how to adapt to change and think creatively.

This came up in the LEAD Office when we were asked to faciliate a group from the Mason LIFE program. We were tasked to work with them on team building and communication. The task seemed easy but working with these students four days a week, I realized that the way we communicate and approach team building would not translate the same way to them. Some students have high reading levels whereas others rely on pictures. Some students have excellent social skills and some refrain from large group activities. Knowing that there were many levels of learning styles and competencies challenge our group but it was a perfect opportunity to think out of the box using the knowledge I acquired through my job experience with the students.

We were able to play two planned games in under 30 minutes and considering we had a whole hour left we had to think quickly on our toes to design and implement another activity that the students would enjoy. I helped faciliate a brand new activity in 5 minutes where the students were given an image the needed to create together as a team and it had to adhere to basic characteristics I assigned them. They needed to work together to make sure each element was represented and they needed to compare it to an image I would create on my own. I stepped out of the room to work on my picture alone and they worked together to create an image of a playground with kids having fun on a sunny day. They each added something to the photo and had to use communication skills and team work to make sure nothing was left out but they also learned that they need to communicate with each other to make sure everyone felt included. That was the best facilitation because although we had a plan, we were able to adapt and creatively come up with something different that the students enjoyed but also took up the remaining time.

One of my role models who is actually a Mason Alum has taught me so much about adapting to change and thinking creatively. Michael Pratt graduated last winter with a degree in community health after many years of being in his undergrad. He defied the idea of graduating in 4 years but although he was here for a longer period of time he utilized this time to grow. He inspires me because he is like more students today who may not fit the mold of what society expects you to do but rather shows society that the object is not when you finish but how you finish. He walks by faith which encourages me! He gave me the honor of decorating his graduation cap reading, “always finish.”

I was overwhelmed with excitement for him because he had to adapt to so many changes throughout his college career ranging from taking time off to be able to pay for his tuition to joining a fraternity, to being challenged to see his close friends finish before him. He never lost sight of his goal to graduate college and that has inspired me today. He along with Jalen Sherald, Grace Beya, Ashley Carter, and Jamison Hicks, have been key players in my success here at Mason and I am for indebted to them for the kindness and love they have shown me.