Breckenridge, CO - Children (Post 3)

Elliott: Today was a blast. I worked with Hunter, who is dubbed as "the bravest man in the world" by several credible sources (his Mom and Dad). In his file, I read that he was quiet, but we found a mutual appreciation for sports; he was particularly interested in boxing. He told me several stories about "Iron Mike Tyson," "Sugar Ray," and "Smokin' Joe Frazier" in rapid succession, and it was clear that we were about to have an awesome day. Hunter lived up to his reputation of bravery as we skied through the Haunted Forest and raced down the slopes. He tired quickly, but he came back from lunch with an awesome amount of energy that was certainly contagious. So, in the afternoon, we made all of our runs into races. Boys vs. Girls of course. In the end, the boys emerged with a perfect 8-0 record, and he was telling everyone that he saw. He was so excited to have won so many races, and I was thrilled to help make him smile.

Also, one of the highlights of my day came from Gracie yet again. She brightens the room with her smile and her hugs, of course. We threw the ball back and forth until her parents arrived, and I loved spending time with her. I'm happy to report that she made my day when she gave me two hugs before she left. I can't believe this week has passed as quickly as it has.

Ryan: For the second time of the week, I got to work with "KK".  She was such a joy to work with on Tuesday.  So when I found out that I got to ski with her again, I knew it was going to be an awesome day.  We had a similar day to when we worked together on Tuesday.  We mono-skied in the morning and it was the first time that she was independent down the entire run.  When we told her at the bottom that we weren't guiding her at all during the run, she couldn't believe it.  The look on her face made my day. 

In the afternoon, before we started skiing, I got to talk with her mom about KK's life after the accident.  So it was really cool for me because I was able to relate to life after my brother Christopher passed away.  It meant so much to me that her mom was willing to talk to me about Chris.  Sharing everything with her made the rest of the afternoon with KK really special for me. 

Lauren: I was so excited this morning because I came in and saw that I had Delaney in the morning and Gracie in the afternoon. Since I wasn't with them yesterday, they were so excited to show me how much they had improved. I was so proud of Gracie for making turns on her own…it took throwing a football across the mountain but it was so much fun! Seeing my instructor, Rachel, work with both of them made me realize how amazing people can bring the best out of the kids. In my dream classroom, I would have her as a Para. When we got back from skiing, I got to hang out with Gracie's family again. I loved watching how they interact and joking around with her sisters. My favorite part of the day was when Rachel told me that all of the instructors have been talking so highly of our group and even the parents have constantly been asking how long we were there for!

Bianca: I had a fantastic day today! In the morning, I was with Dutch, an incredible, young boy. We went down to the Magic Carpet where he did one run. Although he did not ski much there we still had an amazing time. He got tired and we took a break to play in the snow. One thing that you must know about Dutch is that he absolutely loves superheroes and once you start talking to him about them, he can go on for hours! In the snow he made several snowballs and pretended to be different superheroes and threw all the snowballs at my helmet. I had a blast playing games with him. My favorite part of the day was when Dutch went down the greens twice! Dutch was tired so we put him in a bi-ski but he had a smile on his face during the runs. We even went into the Haunted Forest, a trail meant for kids, which he loved! I am so happy to have gotten the chance to ski with him because he is an amazing kid.

Moving onto lunch, one of the things that stands out to me is going outside on the patio to take a MAB group picture and having a lady none of us knew also take a picture of us because she went to Mizzou and thought it was great that we were there. In the afternoon, I went to another location and helped one of the staff members for the organization we're working with, with some organizational things with two other members of our group and I thought that it was great to see the other side of things.

Lindsey: I think what can make or break a day with the BOEC is how involved the families are. Today I worked with a child who was four and a half years old and had only skied once before in his life. That being said, he did a great job of going up the magic carpet and down the bunny hill and my instructor and I were really proud of him! After about 1.5 runs, he became overwhelmed and we had to take him inside so that he would calm down because he was screaming and crying about the cold. As we were walking inside, his mom happened to be walking past us and instead of checking on her son, she immediately turned her head and speed walked in the other direction (thankfully our student didn't see her). I could not believe how cold the mom acted, her son was clearly distressed and she was more focused on going to Starbucks. Today, more than ever, I am so incredibly thankful for my mom. I take for granted sometimes how involved my mom is in my life, but after seeing my students mom today it reinforced how lucky I am to have such supportive a role model in my life.

Jamie: Today I was paired up with two girls.  Heidi in the morning and Sophia in the afternoon.  Heidi was the first non-verbal student that I had all week.  She has a laundry list of disabilities.  Heidi is 13 but has the mental capacity of a four year old. It was her first time skiing and we used the ski legs with her going down a green.  We had to stop several times to go to the bathroom so we only made it down the hill once.  She wasn't very motivated and it was hard to tell if she enjoyed it very much. She was hunched over for most of the ride down but whenever she stood up she had a look of amazement.  Sophia has down syndrome. She was really sweet; I loved working with her.  She told us everyone in her family's favorite color.  She is the happiest girl had the most genuine smile I have ever seen.  She did really well till a minor break down towards the end of the run.  But we got her up on her skis and down the hill and she was ecstatic again to see her family waiting for her.

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