More Than A Token: The Two-Time Campus Award Winner

Sometimes the biggest honors do not need to be evaluated by how I live but by how other people perceive at how I live. When I won the Volunteer of the Year award in 2010, it was a huge honor because I was almost in tears due to the fact that volunteering is central to how I conduct my life and my behavior in leading. It was also a huge honor since it parlayed into my internship and the realization that I could go further in how I conducted my own doings in a professional volunteer manner. I may have inspired myself to volunteer plenty, but in the backbone, I was inspiring others as well and I eventually did more in the next few years than I did in that year alone volunteer-wise. The next year, I attended but was a runner-up in event of the year. I don't want to sound cocky, but I think we should have won. There was blood, sweat, tears, and a humongous amount of bureaucratic work that went into the rally and we were on television for it. It was a huge success and a huge deal. I even put it on my resume. But there has since been moving on and not being bitter and it was a huge field and I was that close to being a three-time campus award winner. one is more than a lot of people experience, the overwhelming majority of campus most likely. The Spirit of Boise State award was the biggest award I think I have ever gotten. For others to see how much I'm involved in school on so many levels and to see the extent of people cheering and talking about it since then, there is a feeling that I won't get something of the like until I graduate. To be so honored and moved by a whole campus and to be one of nine in the whole school nominated and one of five to win, it is a true honor. I am proud of that, but even more than that, the being proud extends to the whole school. I couldn't have done it without the support of the whole school having my back. I did shed a tear or two at the announcement and I'm OK with that. I'm so proud of my school and the things I've done and continue to do. Finally, I think that my autism plays a role in that. My autism plays a role in having enough energy to be constantly in motion and still have enough energy to nap once a week and be a late to bed, early to rise person. My autism gets me in friendly mode, which helps explain why so many people know me and care for me and why there were several people standing at the gala. Finally, my autism has helped me be involved, more than people realizing it being a factor. I am proud of each and every one of my cohorts, but without my authentic self, it wouldn't of been made possible nor without any of them. And I couldn't be happier. Stay tuned for the next segment of my blog: 29: 5 reasons why it was a year of self-discovery.