Hanna Atkinson SSIGM Blog #6 — Celebrating National Disability Employment Awareness and Being Health Messenger!
By Hanna Atkinson, Sargent Shriver International Global Messenger and Special Olympics Colorado Athlete Leader
Good qualities in the workplace are taking directions, being on time at the place you work, enjoying the work that you do, and most of all is to be professional and willing to listen. Being honest goes a long way because the co-workers will feel appreciated and they will want to see you to succeed in the job.
Teamwork in any working environment is needed. Without it, it will be harder to keep the job that you have and be respected by all of your co-workers. This is 1000 % important hands down! I know this fact really well, and it applies to the reality of life. Please trust me on this!
The passion you have can also lead into a job that takes you by surprise, that is one way to look at it if you ask me. One quality that stands out in my eyes is being flexible to the changes that happen in the work that you have on a regular basis.
In this blog, my purpose is to share with all of you that anyone in this nation and society today can be employed no matter who they are. I believe we can create understanding and acceptance for all of us that do have unique talents within the work we desire; in our daily lives, and to continue to feel encouraged instead of misunderstood by our co-workers.
Why is it important to have a job?
· To be independent
· Have an awesome future
· To develop life skills
To make a lasting impact in the community!
With the purpose and why it is important to have a healthy working environment, let me share with you the perspective that I have gained and experienced within the four years of being hostess at Olive Garden in Littleton, Colorado. This has been special and unique, and a very unexpected experience in my life. They hired me with such open doors and the Olive Garden staff is both generous and kind. They noticed that I am bursting with faith, dedication and a whirl-wind speed of positivity! Olive Garden also realizes that I am good at making connections with diners and now they are my support. They know that I can talk and recommend this restaurant in any capacity. Reflecting upon this job, being in a restaurant you can see a completely new point of view on life! Employment is highly needed when you believe in the purpose.
It builds the confidence in yourself and others when we are all doing our job well as a team. Performing at our best will help us have a good future. We, as individuals, want to be supported in the working environment and show that we have the right to have a job even if we have intellectual disabilities (ID)!
Now allow me to express that when you hire us it will add the value of ability awareness. That is a bonus for you all to keep in mind. I know this especially when I work at Olive Garden. However, even when you own a business and have the platform, having that awareness can have a powerful impact. I know this because I have a business and I am still working on the purpose of it so that I can focus my decisions. I decided that with faith and awareness for all abilities we can come together to share our ideas and have involvement in the community to be the best version of ourselves despite what barriers we may have overcome. I want to use my platform to share this powerful message because the positive feedback can definitely help businesses worldwide, including my own. Sharing our stories from across the whole globe is a huge need that has been crystal clear to me. This is what I want to achieve and it is still developing as we speak. I believe it is highly valuable and original. I take pride in my great deal of commitment to experience life and fulfill my precious time by developing this content through business.
This is one perspective of National Employment, calling in action to hire people with different abilities!
WHO IS WITH ME!?!
I also wanted to share my role as a national Health Messenger. Before receiving the honor of being a Sargent Shriver International Global Messenger, I accepted this role. Who knew that I would have the opportunity to share the health message to the world? I am really thankful that I can do that with all of you.
Special Olympics hosted a Sport and Health Conference in Minnesota this month, which Renee Manfredi and I attended, for a “Train the Trainer” to educate athletes to be Health Messengers like Renee and me. The conference was excellent, and we took back helpful information to inspire our local athletes so that they too can perform well in their individual sports using guidelines to help them flourish by having a healthy life! One part of my role was to give introductions to the speakers in the breakout sessions at the conference. I also co-led fitness stations at the conference with Renee and we made connections with those who were at the fitness stations. From this experience, there are two stories I want to share that I felt were fantastic.
I met Raymond, who is also a Health Messenger, and his mother and their story made an impact in my life. While I was listening to their story, I remembered that Raymond is a brilliant Special Olympics bowler who now has become the bowling coach. He can teach me to not get in the bowling gutters! The second story is that we had a game show at the conference and there was a celebrity guest that was part of the game show. Her name is Abby, and she is a spectacular athlete from Minnesota. She is an amazing presenter and very talented.
Overall, the conference went really well and I also got the chance to meet Maddison which was really cool because he is really kind and an extraordinary presenter. Maddison is an effective hands on learner and I witnessed that in his breakout session. It is worthwhile to impact others in this work and I am very seriously enjoying what I do to make a difference in this world by doing this job!
