Focus on Leadership: Helena Spychala

Best Buddies Indiana (BBIN) welcomed 112 middle school, high school, college, and Ambassadors participants to this year's Best Buddies International Leadership Conference (BBLC). One of these students attended the conference as BBIN's first ever middle school Ambassador.

Helena Spychala, a recent eighth-grade graduate of Westlane Middle School and former Buddy Director of the Westlane Best Buddies chapter, was able to experience conference for the first time this July.

During the weekend, she was able to attend Ambassadors classes, meet other middle school student leaders from across the world, and give her speech at the BBIN state meeting on the last day.

Helena and her roommate Aliya Carroll, a fellow Westlane student, roomed together at the conference.

Helena and the group from Westlane Middle School.

"She enjoyed being a college girl for a couple of days," said Karin Spychala, Helena's mom.

Aliya and Helena had a great time meeting other middle school students and learning all about Best Buddies.

"My time with Helena in the dorm was awesome! We had some friends that we made right next to us and we talked and played games on my iPad," said Aliya.

Helena said "meeting new people" was her favorite part of conference.

On the last day of conference, Helena presented her speech to her fellow BBIN participants with her advisor, Melinda Zore, and Aliya by her side.

"I really enjoyed standing up there with Helena while doing her speech," said Aliya.

Zore said that Helena's speech was one of the best parts of her conference experience.

Helena and Zore at the BBLC Opening Ceremonies

"Helena has become more confident in herself," said Zore. "She has a friendly and outgoing personality which helps her interact with others.  Her speech was one of the highlights of the conference. Having been her teacher for three years, I have had the opportunity to watch her grow and become a beautiful young lady."

Helena is already looking forward to her freshman year at North Central High School and next year's Leadership Conference.

"Helena had a fabulous time at BBLC! She was already talking about next year on the way home, before she fell asleep," said Karin Spychala.

Mitch and Nick:Greenfield-Central High School

Mitch Gibson (left) and Nick Gill (right) are a buddy pair from Greenfield-Central High School.

The Greenfield-Central High School Best Buddies chapter opened in the Fall of 2012. During the chapter's inaugural year, students Mitch Gibson and Nick Gill were matched together in a one-to-one friendship. Even though they have only been matched for a year, Mitch and Nick have developed a strong, natural, and lasting friendship. 

See Nick's perspective on their friendship below:

What does Best Buddies mean to you?

Best Buddies is a lot of fun, and I do fun things with my friends there. We stand up for people and have fun!
  
What's your favorite thing about your buddy?

I love Mitch! He is tons of fun!

What do you and your buddy like to do together?

Mitch and I do all kinds of things together. We love to go out to eat, see movies, play games, and laugh a lot. We also spend our birthdays together, and I cheer for him when he plays baseball. I loved spending the night at his house. We had so much fun!

 
How has Best Buddies changed your life?

I have always had lots of friends, but Best Buddies has given me some very close friendships, and it gives me a club to help lead. I feel important and special when I'm leading them and being with my Best Buddies. 

Why do you think others should join Best Buddies?

I think others should join because it is fun and it makes people feel special!