I joined Best Buddies as a freshman, looking for a club with something to do or even someone to help. When I went to the first meeting, I was anxious and excited to see if Best Buddies would meet those requirements. The first meeting was amazing; being able to see everyone’s smiling faces with the same intentions to help. The match party is generally the first event of the year, when people find out who their buddy is for the year. I stepped into the room for the first time, and I was handed a cookie with the name “Nick” written on it, meaning I was paired up with him. That year quickly came to an end, and the president at the time approached me and asked if I would like to be the vice president for the following year. That year was amazingly successful and quickly came to a close. I was then asked to become president and help make the club be the best that it could be. I have been the president for the last two years, and I have watched the club grow from 20 to 75 committed members with wildly successful events over and over again. Being president has been the most amazing and rewarding time of my life, and if I had to choose a club again, I would choose Best Buddies every time.

One of my favorite events here at Vernon Hills High School is Best Buddies Prom. It not only gives students an event to look forward to, but the opportunity for everyone to be themselves in a non-judgemental environment. The mission of Best Buddies is “to establish a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment and leadership development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).” With this as our mission, being the president these last two years has been a pleasure.

These last few years, Best Buddies has taught me to be patient, tolerant, excited, and anxious, and has given me an overwhelming amount of joy. Best Buddies is a club that creates life long friendships between students with IDDs and general education students. There are amazing events throughout the year, including the Halloween Party, Best Buddies Prom, Best Buddies Carnival, and many more. Each event is planned with the intent to impress everyone, and is adapted so everyone can participate whatever the ability. To me, Best Buddies is the most rewarding activity and club I could ever have chosen to be in. It has given me major opportunities like meeting the president of Best Buddies International and Glee Star Lauren Potter. I also previewed the new movie Where Hope Grows, and met the lead actor David Desanctis, attended Leadership Conference over the summer at Indiana University, and created memories that will last a lifetime.

At VHHS, Best Buddies is not just a club, it is a family. Everyone is extremely supportive of one another, and we all rally for total equality. Best Buddies has not just changed my daily life it has changed my life as a whole. Seeing my buddies’ smiling faces every day is the greatest feeling, especially on the gloomiest days. Some of my favorite moments are hearing them yelling my name at lunch and hanging out with them at Best Buddies events. These moments have shown me that it does not matter where you are or who you are with; you just need to be yourself. Best Buddies Prom is an event that not only brings a smile to my face but brings it to 250 plus kids from eight other schools in our area, and this year’s was the “sweetest” one yet.