Student Spotlight: Meet Alex!

Two images of Alex smiling; the Best Buddies logo is at the bottom of the image

Best Buddies is a “nonprofit organization dedicated to establishing a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment, leadership development, and inclusive living for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.” I have been involved with Best Buddies for over 7 years now and my experience so far has been amazing. I have had the opportunity to do a lot of fun things and I am an ambassador and intern now which have helped me develop my leadership, public speaking, and self-advocacy skills over the past few years.

In 2018, I had the opportunity to speak at Oakhurst Country Club Golf Course in Grove City Ohio in 2018. I also got the opportunity to go to Bloomington, Indiana for a weekend at the end of July 2018 for a Best Buddies Leadership Conference to be on the Ambassador’s Track. I got to give a keynote speech at the Gala in 2018. I also got to lead a webinar called Spread the Word to End the Word. I also got to speak at the Miranova 2 Ohio Equities in the fall of 2018.

In May of 2019, I got to speak at The Ohio State House. I got to testify. At the beginning of the school year in 2019, I got to speak at the Best Buddies Information Session to people who wanted to join Best Buddies that are new. As an Ambassador, I have participated in Champion of the Year, which is a contest to see who can raise the most money for Best Buddies, for the past three years.

Being part of Best Buddies led to an internship. I intern virtually and write about what I do for Best Buddies, get more people involved with Best Buddies, and assist with developing their newsletter. I love that Best Buddies has allowed me the opportunity to build on and learn new skills, make and create new friendships that last a lifetime, get more involved in my community.

-Written by Alex Rogers, TOPS Student

Source: “About (Ohio).” Best Buddies International, 26 Oct. 2020, www.bestbuddies.org/ohio/about.

Internship Feature: OSU Student Health Services Physical Therapy Department

When TOPS approached Pam Bork (Senior Physical Therapist for OSU Student Health Services) about creating an internship for students in the TOPS Program, she welcomed us with open arms and was eager to make it work. She met us with a smile on her face, gave us a tour of the facility and office spaces, and we collaborated to come up with various tasks students can work on to build their employment skills in her department.

Depending on a student’s interest, some of the things they can learn in the Physical Therapy department include:

  • Office Support – greeting incoming patients, answering the phone, making copies, checking the mail and writing appointment reminder cards
  • Healthcare and Physical Therapy – cleaning and resetting gym equipment and patient rooms, stocking and ordering therapy supplies, sit in on therapy appointments to learn about different types of therapy and assist
  • Research – do online research regarding things like health and wellness, different types of injuries, why people need physical therapy, and physical therapy exercises that help patients get better
Student (Connor) in black and white polo shirt sitting on a green exercise ball. Connor is sitting next to Pam, his internship supervisor, and learning about different types of therapy.

TOPS student, Connor Silverman, learning about therapy exercises from his internship supervisor, Pam Bork.

If there is something a student wants to learn more about, Pam is happy to help them towards that goal. She takes the time to get to know each student and understand how they learn best to help them be successful and as independent as possible – one of our students, Connor, loved that Pam talked with him about Ohio State football and that she had a checklist of tasks for him to utilize each shift. Thank you to Pam and her team for creating such an inclusive and supportive environment for TOPS students.