Coming into senior year I had a pretty set idea on what I wanted to do for a capstone project. I had brainstormed many ideas but I kept the same concept of wanting to relate it to something that touches me deeply and is very close to my heart. I’m a firm believer of equal opportunities. At the beginning for me it felt like I was coordinating an event to get a grade. But as I began to to get involved and see as the event was coming together it became more of a personal, enlightening experience. It became about breaking barriers and misconceptions that have been set into society. As the project progressed it became more evident that I was making an impact on not only people living with a physical disability, but also to the students and staff at SMSA. I also wanted to showcase athletes living with disabilities and their love for sports. Those are the moments in which I felt like a leader. Coming into this project, I thought I would learn how to lead, but I also learned much more. I'm someone whose generally very reserved and keeps to themselves, so through this project has taught me that it's good to feel uncomfortable. I’m advocating for all those who just want to be accepted and not be looked at differently because our ways of getting through a day is different than everyone else’s. Through my involvement with Hospital for Special Care in New Britain, it was made aware to me that because the Spina Bifida Association of Connecticut was shut down due to lack of funding and now we only fall under the Spina Bifida Association of Greater New England, Connecticut residents are not able to apply for scholarships. I wanted to help out those residents here in Connecticut by raising money to have a scholarship we would be able to call our own. Through my charity basketball game I was able to raise $320 for the association. All though I did not raise as much as I was hoping, the impact I made on the people touched by my efforts is much greater. Even when I was younger I always knew I wanted to work as being an advocate for anyone living with a disability, and my passion grew as I got a better understanding of the areas that needed work. My capstone didn't end when my event on November 10 was over. Seeing the impact I had, I began to think I wanted to include the middle school students. I believe middle school years are crucial years in the development of a person, I decided that myself and my coach Ryan Martin could talk about our success because we had sports as well as why dreaming big but setting small goals to reach the bigger goal is so important. I wanted to make everyone affected by this project proud and I believe I was able to accomplish that. Adrian (6th grade student) is wheelchair bound and I believe the impact I had on him was what touched me. I met with him at the beginning of the year to invite him to the wheelchair basketball game but he could not attend. After April 19th I saw a whole new him. He would come up to me and ask me questions and whenever we crossed each others path in school we would say hi to one another. He came to one of my practices, and that very next morning he stated that he was tired because of all the pushing we had done.