Today’s guest blog comes from “Cape Kid of the Month” Olivia Perlmutter, a true everyday hero who has our respect and admiration. Olivia founded Teens Connecting with Teens to bring students together to help youth with special needs (read on for more details!). We look forward to honoring Olivia at our upcoming 5K race for kidkind and Family Festival and sharing a portion of proceeds to support her in expanding the reach of her organization.
And now…take it away, Olivia!
“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”― Mahatma Gandhi
I have heard many times that one small action can lead to a thousand new opportunities, but I never really believed that until my freshman year of high school when I decided to take one small step. That small step was really just a simple idea that I had to help my twin sister reconnect with the friends that she had made in the Chatham public school system. My sister has down syndrome and had been in public school until 5th grade―“mainstreamed”, they called it―but eventually she transferred to a special needs school in Chatham called ECLC.
My sister loves ECLC, but she also loves hanging out with her “old friends” from elementary school. As an incoming freshman, I recognized that there was no contact between students at my high school and the ECLC school, even though they were in the same town. I decided that I would start a club at the high school to create opportunities for social interactions with the students at ECLC.
Entering high school as a timid freshman was terrifying and having to organize my first club meeting and speak in front of a large group of people was the last thing I wanted to do. However, I found the strength to overcome my fear, because I recognized that, like my sister, all of the students at ECLC could benefit from this program.
My sister and about 30 other ECLC students now live for our activity nights! Not only have experiences with the club changed so many others, but they have changed me, as well. I remember as a freshman thinking to myself that I would never run for class office; it seemed TERRIFYING. But after I saw how one small action of starting a club impacted so many people in a positive way, I figured why not! I was voted sophomore class vice president!
Another big thing that came as a result of my small step was that I was selected to attend a leadership conference. Only one or two sophomores are chosen each year from our high school, and I received the honor in part because of all the work I had done to build the club. The leadership conference was a truly life-changing experience and, just recently, I was accepted as a junior counselor to work at the leadership conference this summer.
My attitude towards trying new things has been completely transformed over the past three years. I am currently a junior in high school and looking for new ways to expand my club and challenge myself with new and exciting opportunities! I’m thankful that Wear the Cape is helping me to further my efforts and touch more lives.
