Mariana was aware of the special needs population because her brother has special needs. Therefore, when Mariana began college, she searched for an outlet to serve the special needs population; thankfully, HOPE eagerly supplied that outlet. Mariana first found out about HOPE through an email at Wake Forest University over three years ago when the then-small-scale-program was first recruiting members. Mariana remarks, “I joined HOPE not because it was a ‘nice’ thing to do, but because I truly wanted to help children with disabilities and make a small difference in their lives.”

Mariana speaks highly of Emily, her HOPE buddy. “Emily is a beautiful girl with bright green eyes. She and I worked mostly on improving her decision making skills; once a week, every Wednesday morning, we would make decisions on what she wanted to do.” Emily, who has developmental disabilities, cannot speak. But, as Mariana puts it “educating children with special needs often takes unique approaches, and since Emily couldn’t communicate verbally, we just had to find an alternative way.” Therefore, Mariana and Emily’ teachers developed a board with pictures on it, and Emily would point out what activity she would prefer to do for that day. Mariana relays the perseverance it takes when mentoring the special needs population: “Some days our board communication worked and some days it didn’t, but it was always a great experience. I learned a lot from Emily and hopefully the fact she had a mentor who dedicated quality time to be with her made her feel as special as she was to me.”

Due to her special needs brother, Mariana has always had a positive relationship with persons with disabilities. “But,” she relays, “not all people have such relationships growing up. Thankfully, HOPE is one of those rare organizations out there that really makes a difference.” Mariana enthusiastically encourages HOPE Service Chapter development at additional colleges: “I think it is important for colleges to have this kind of organization as it establishes awareness of persons with disabilities. College students tend to be very involved in helping people and there’s a big population with disabilities who needs this special type of attention and assistance. Therefore HOPE is a perfect organization to motivate students to get involved and promote respect for persons with disabilities. HOPE provides a program that all college students should have the opportunity of participating with because every human being has an impact on each other. It’s amazing how children with disabilities can impact our lives, and you will be amazed how you can impact theirs!”