The key note speaker, Dr. John R. Passarini really helped open my eyes and see why I am here at SUNY Cortland as a Physical Education major. He was somebody that has taught at all levels, ages and abilities. But what really made me think was when he said "people are not disabled, they are differently abled." I've always known that you can't look at somebody and consider them handicapped or physically underdeveloped. Seeing somebody as just different abled puts them on the same playing field as the rest of their peers. Dr. Passarini really made it clear to me that although they are differenlty abled they can participate in the same activities as the rest of the students. Adaptations should be made but the activity still needs to challenge the student. Seeing the video of Katie Lynch proved everything that Dr. Passarini was saying. She had different abilities but continued to challenge herself on a daily basis. Katie is a person that you can look at and realize that you should stop complaining about doing tasks that you find hard or too difficult. She had several set backs but was determined to reach each and every goal whether is was graduating high school and college or walking the beginning of a marathon. Like Dr. Passarini said, "Katie was a candle lighter."
