Do you ever get that feeling you are not sure what to do when something comes up and it prevents you from having discussion with you peers? It can be difficult at first because we are not sure how we can have our discussion about some topics. You can think of ways to stay in touch with your peers and have casual conversations with them. I've discovered an answer to that is having chats through technology, especially the Special Olympics Massachusetts Live Chat on Zoom.

Every Friday, I along with Special Olympics employee Charles Hirsch host a chat on Zoom, the app where you can socialize with people from different locations. On this chat, Charles and I get to discuss topics each week, whether it's about sports in our region or just having a simple conversation. Afterwards we open the discussion to the athletes and hear their opinions on the subject.

Last week, we mentioned about the signing of Tom Brady to Tampa Bay and both Charles and I gave our opinions about it. Everyone else seemed displeased and did not want to talk about it. Overall, this turned out to be a good opportunity because we are getting to know more about some of the athletes we have not met through our organization.

With already two chats so far, I really enjoy how Charles and I can still have our sporting conversation, even from different locations. Before the virus broke out and forced us to quarantine in our homes, Charles and I did radio podcasts from the Yawkey Sports Training Center in Marlborough. Like the chats we do on Zoom, Charles and I find topics to discuss about and we have a 30-minute conversation on the topics we had planned for that podcast. Although I do miss doing our podcasts, doing these chats is better because we can talk to each other instead of people just listening to our voices. Also, we get to have many people on the chat with us rather than having one to two people talking with us on the podcast.

With another one coming up, Charles and I cannot be more excited to have people join our chat and join along the topics we have scheduled to have. To learn more about the chat and see if you want to join go to https://www.specialolympicsma.org/online-athlete-chat/ and we hope to see you on our next chat.

Until then, stay safe and healthy but most of all, stay active.

‍Mike Kelley is a 2014 graduate of Auburn High School in Auburn, Massachusetts and played on the Varsity football team for 3 seasons as the first special needs student to play on the team. He is now an assistant coach of the Auburn High School Unified Track & Field team. He competes in Special Olympics Massachusetts in the sports of bowling, swimming, basketball, flag football and softball and is a student at Worcester State University studying communications.