BELLA’S MANAGER STORY
“BUILDING AN ENVIRONMENT OF BELONGING”
This is why we do these stories right here. Bella draws on a life-shaping experience she went through years ago— and how it continues to influence her today within her management role at Student-Made App State.
One notable success in my life was my impact on a little boy's life. His name is Ashton. He was two years old at the time. I had him as one of my campers for a dance camp I did several years ago.
He had several disorders and disabilities including sensory processing disorder, Autism, Prader-Willi syndrome and more. Most of which stopped him from dancing, taking part in class & making friends. But over the course of that summer the more I worked with him, the more he grew.
He started at the beginning of the summer just sitting in the corner playing with me. He wouldn’t allow anyone else to touch him or his toys except for me. For some reason he had a certain level of comfort with me, that feeling was a remarkable one. Throughout the next few weeks he slowly started to let other kids play with his toys. Then he gradually started to make friends. Later on he eventually participated in class activities like dancing, obstacle courses & arts and crafts.
More so by the end of the camp, he’d made friends with everyone in class. He would stand at the doorway and give everyone high fives as they were leaving for the day. To see his growth and development was extraordinary. To know that I had such a big impact on his life completely changed who I am. I learned that no matter the situation, if you try your hardest, and act with patience and kindness, you can always make a positive impact.
I’ve always been a pretty patient person but this experience for me really solidified these as core beliefs. I use these as foundations for being a leader in Student-Made by rolling with the punches. Not everything always works out but that's okay. Sometimes you just have to wait for the better partnership opportunities to come along and they often do.
By creating fun and engaging events for our Creators, I hope that it's able to bring them joy & help get them out of their shell.
