Newsletter
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Kristin Riley
South Jordan, UT
Family Life and Human Development
Leadership
I organized a Best Buddies Prom for the Best Buddies club at Southern Utah University. Best Buddies is an international organization to promote inclusion of people with intellectual or developmental disabilities by creating one-to-one friendships with college kids (in our case). I organized a prom for the members of the club that included dancing, a photo-booth, music, food, pictures, and a slideshow. The slideshow included all of the pictures taken throughout the year. The steps to complete this project included fundraising, reserving a room, inviting the members/buddies, planning a date, ordering/making food, buying or making costumes/props, making decorations, finding a DJ and/or speakers, creating a music playlist, designing/making a picture backdrop, finding a camera, creating slideshow, and assigning roles to volunteers and presidency members. Since this project was quite larger I had my presidency help me accomplish this activity. It was held toward the end of the school year as a last hurrah before summer break began.
When the students and buddies arrived they were greeted by familiar faces who took their picture at the photo booth. As you entered the room, tables were set up around the perimeter of the dance floor decorated with popcorn buckets and carnival tickets. The floor was littered with balloons and music from The Greatest Showman was playing in the background to set the mood since the nights theme was, "A Million Dreams." Shortly after most guests arrived, the end of the year slideshow started playing and food was served. The rest of the night was spent dancing and conversing as we closed off the first year of Best Buddies of SUU.
In high school, I was a part of the Best Buddies club and I absolutely loved it! The very idea of including people with disabilities into everyday interactions and events made me excited. I knew how amazing they were and I wanted others to know it too. They aren't anything to be afraid of because they are some of the most loving and caring people I know. I knew I could do something more than talk with them in the halls or sit with them at lunch. In the state of Utah, people with disabilities receive a certificate of advancement instead of a diploma but in my head they worked harder to obtain their diploma than I did. My senior year I planned and executed a graduation night for all of the seniors graduating that year. It was then that I knew of my love for people with disabilities. It was then that I knew I had to try my best to make a difference in someones life. After moving to Cedar City and starting my degree at Southern Utah University I knew SUU needed a club just like the one which helped me find myself in high school. I chose Best Buddies Prom to be my EDGE project because I wanted to make a difference, even if it was a small one.
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This project definitely wasn't easy but it was worth it. Originally I was worried about financing such a large event. As time went on I came across great resources! After helping with concessions at SUU basketball games, we were able to get all of the food for free through credit. It was also a huge help that most of the large equipment needed, was provided by SUU. It was also difficult to plan around finals, breaks, and everyone's busy lives. I was not only balancing work and school, I was also trying to plan and execute a large event. In the end, I realized I had more people helping and cheering me on than I thought.
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My only hope is that this project benefitted not only me and my life, but also the lives of our buddies and peer buddies. I hope it was a night where people could let lose and enjoy themselves. No judgements, no comparisons, just fun. A night out of the everyday ordinary routines full of laughter, friendship and memories. Everyone deserves to be happy and included. My hope is it will be the start of something new at SUU, so that eventually we don’t have to have a club or an activity to promote inclusion and acceptance. It will just naturally happen.
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Lastly, my hope is that this night touched someone as much as it touched me. It allowed me to step outside of myself and truly service the people I care so much about. I was able to put my leadership skills to the test to see if I really could execute a project this large. I had to manage time and money all at the same time. At the end of that night, it didn't matter how many assignments I still had to complete or how many hours I had spent preparing. The only thing that mattered were the smiles on their faces and the love of friendship in the room.
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"It was a night filled with everything I could have hoped for."
"There's a million dreams for the world we're gonna make."