Interning at Turnstone: Autumn Anderson

For as long as I can remember, I have had a passion for working with kids. This has been made clear to me through the several babysitting jobs that I have had. In high school, I also recognized that I had a passion for working with people with disabilities due to being a peer tutor in the resource room. I had the opportunity to work alongside one student at a time or even a whole group of students with disabilities. At my high school, I even had the chance to watch many of these students annually compete in the Special Olympics, and it brought me so much joy to see how excited the players were to be treated like the other athletes at school. From these experiences and relationships made, I quickly realized the empathy, compassion, and patience that these roles required. I was inspired by the different teachers who demonstrated these traits so clearly, and I became aware that I wanted to dedicate my life to serving others in a similar way.

In addition to the school setting, my passion of working with people with disabilities has been made more evident through my time as an athlete. In fact, I played futsal (a version of soccer on a basketball court) at Turnstone when I was younger. I have played soccer my whole life and have unfortunately gone through a series of different knee and ankle injuries and surgeries. From 5 total surgeries in a 4-year period, and lots of days spent using crutches, I can minorly understand and relate to those who cannot use their legs for a period of time. Although my experience is on a smaller scale compared to most, I am thankful for these occurrences that have allowed my heart to be drawn to people with disabilities, especially in the physical sense.

This coming fall, I will be a senior at Grace College. I am double majoring in exercise science and psychology. After I graduate with my degree from Grace, I have decided to attend grad school for occupational therapy. This decision is a result of my past experiences as well as the guidance and wisdom from others. My desire in the future is to work specifically with kids with disabilities. Because of this, when it came time to find an internship for this summer, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. When I heard about all that Turnstone had to offer, I jumped at the chance to be involved. I am excited to continue building relationships with others and developing important skills for my future occupation through my internship this summer at Turnstone!