The annual Fall Festival at Villanova University revolves around one important program: The Special Olympics. The Special Olympics Pennsylvania Fall Festival at Villanova University is the largest student-run Special Olympics event in the whole world.
This November 2nd through 4th was the 30th Annual Fall Festival at Villanova. As a freshman who had never worked with this program or attended the Fall Festival before, I was absolutely blown away by what I was able to witness and participate in. There are so many reasons to love Villanova, but my experience during Special Olympics Weekend truly confirmed that I made the right choice to come to this school.
Villanova hosts over 1,000 athletes at this event, who participate in six sports: bocce, long distance running, power-lifting, roller skating, soccer, and volleyball. I personally talked with many different teams and athletes while I was volunteering, and met so many lovely, passionate, talented people. There is something so wonderful and hard to describe about an entire university coming together to support such an important foundation. It is incredibly moving to meet the athletes, who have worked so hard to be able to compete in the Special Olympics. Meeting their families, friends, and fans, and seeing their pride and genuine joy is so moving. You can feel the strength of their love everywhere you go and with every person you meet.
The event constantly radiates positivity, where everyone is there to celebrate ability, instead of focus on disability. This is an important message to send to the world: that everyone is gifted in different ways and are ABLE to achieve so much. It is crucial to recognize that the events are not meant for pity, but to emphasize inclusivity and everyone's unique abilities and strengths. The teams participating are dedicated to their sports and work so hard to be able to play. There are also many opportunities for students to volunteer, and each volunteer actively makes a difference in making the athletes welcome and praised for all that they do.
The Villanova University slogan, "veritas, unitas, caritas," comes alive during Special Olympics weekend. The phrase means "truth, unity, and love." We see veritas in these events because we see the truth and reality that all of the athletes have amazing abilities. We see the unity on campus through all of the students coming together and volunteering to make everything run smoothly and to create the best experience possible for the teams, coaches, athletes, and fans. Possibly most of all, there is love throughout Fall Festival. The athletes' love of their sports, the fans and coaches' love for their teams, and the love of Villanovans for showing their support for this organization, are all so powerful during this event. The Special Olympics committee at Villanova put it best, that "The athletes of Special Olympics -- more than 20,000 alone in Pennsylvania -- are constant reminders of all that is right with the human spirit."
