Alexea's Adventure

Wednesday was doubles with my partner. We still woke up at 5 and did our morning routine. The bowlers got to Boardwalk bowl earlier than normal just in case we hit any traffic. Florida has so much traffic no matter the time. Arriving and walking into the bowling alley the volunteers were all lined up clapping and cheering us athletes on when we were walking to get to our lanes. I bowled and I was on lane 27/28 with my double partners. My doubles partner was a very good bowler. I bowled three games with my partner. My highest score in doubles was a 150. In doubles my partner and I scored the silver medal. What a great accomplishment scoring the SILVER medal!!! Thursday was our final day of competition. Wow! Time flies by so fast. I was very exhausted by the team's competition. I still got up and gave it my all. I kept getting the splitters which made me angry. I wanted to help my team out the best I could. I was frustrated. I had my teammates, coaches, and parents, and family to hel...

Friday, June third Team Maryland bowlers arrived at the Marriott hotel around 10:30 in the morning. We got checked in with our team. Then we had stations all the athletes had to go to. We had to go get our luggage with the clothes that Team Maryland provided, check our medicine, and weigh our bags. We did have to bring stuff from home.  One room was where we ate lunch and there were different stations. For lunch, there was a box lunch with a turkey sandwich, a cookie, and pasta salad. Then my mom had to leave. I was pretty sad that I couldn't take her in my suitcase. I haven't stayed away from my family at all besides having a sleepover with friends for a night. This was a new adventure for me to experience. A little while after lunch on Friday there was a scavenger hunt. Each team had to go around and ask a team management person two questions to figure out which question they were. It was a team bonding exercise. We had to get selfies with each person. I got to learn more abo...

Last year in the summer of 2021, my mom got a call from my Area Director saying that I was selected to go to the Special Olympics USA Games in Orlando, Florida to compete in bowling. The night before my mom told the neighbors and they all kept that a secret from me for a few days. That Saturday I was wearing a shirt and shorts and my mom said you need to change your outfit. I said why do I need to change my outfit? She said we are getting family pictures. I changed into my green romper and pretty shoes.   We moved chalk couture down to the grass area so we all could do the craft in the bigger area. The neighbors, my grandparents, and family started bringing chairs over. I didn’t recognize that they were bringing chairs over. My cousins and I started doing our chalk couture. We got our chalkboards, picked our paste, and what we wanted to paint. I put the picture I wanted on the chalkboard. Then I opened the paint up and stirred the paint. I was ready to put the paste on my proj...

I was in special education classes for a couple years, but half way through seventh grade they said since you are doing so well so we are taking you out of special education classes. My family fought so hard to keep me in special education classes and helped fight for the services to help me succeed.  I had an Individualized Education Plan until I was taken out of special education classes. An Individualized Education Plan gives me accommodations to help me succeed in classes. When I was no longer in special education I had a 504 plan which gives me some accommodations to help me succeed, but is much more limited that an IEP accommodation plan and special education.   It was definitely a hard change.  It was difficult for me to learn what was being taught in regular education and the environment I was in because I wasn't used to it, it was much more fast paced and harder to keep up.  I had to meet the new teacher and had to do harder work especially freshman and soph...

  I have a disability. Having a disability doesn’t stop me from living my life. If you have 3 or more things wrong at birth it is considered that you have a Syndrome.  However, the doctors cannot name the exact Syndrome that I have or the exact name to my disability.  I was told that I have a learning disability. I have a hard time understanding things and I'm a little slower at learning and comprehending than others.  I also have a sensory disorder too.  I can’t really taste or smell. I can taste and smell strong things and I can recognize certain tastes as being spicy.  A little tidbit, I can’t taste spicy really, but it is a feeling that it gives my tongue that makes it feel really itchy.  I don’t like that itchy, weird feeling on my tongue so I know I don’t really like things spicy.  I also have a hard time feeling certain things, like hot water.  When I take shower I cannot recognize that the water might be too hot.  There were time...

A little bit of background about my family! I have a mom, dad and sister.  My parents are Amber and Bobby and Aleya is my younger sister!  I'm a mommy’s girl.  Aleya and I look so much like my dad but in some ways we look like our mom. I love hanging out with my family. We do many different things. We go on vacation and have fun with different activities.  My parents are super supportive and they are always there for me and my sister. We are there for each other. My parents will always be a big part of my life, always.  I begged for a sister.  I had so many medical problems, doctor's appointment, and other things going on and my parents weren’t sure about having another child, they thought they were done having kids after me.  But when I was five and a half they had my sister Aleya.  My sister is 15 years old and will always be a big part of my life. Yes we bicker, like most sisters do, but having a sister is awesome!  I enjoy having her in m...

  September 14, 2021, I got an email from Sharon Perfetti, an employee at SOMD who runs the Super Plunge. Sharon sent me an email asking me if I would like to be a super plunger.  A super plunger is someone that plunges in the water every hour for 24 hours straight. At first I didn’t know whether I wanted to plunge in the cold water at all, much less 24 times. but I finally decided a few weeks after that I would accept the offer, and become a Super Plunge Ambassador. Sharon helped me find a plunge partner, and a few days later she emailed me with my partner's name! Her name was Maddie Clemens, Maddie and I set up a zoom to meet and get to know each other. I enjoyed getting to meet her via zoom.  There was a lot of preparation and fundraising and I was still super nervous about plunging into cold water, Sharon reached out to me to share that my super plunge partner had raised enough money, we were ready to Plunge but I didn’t know if I was ready for the full 24 hours. I di...