My name is Zhichen. I’m 17 years old and a student at the Chung Shan Industrial and Commercial School in the city of Kaohsiung and a Special Olympics athlete from Chinese Taipei. It is a vocational school and I’m learning about cars and how to keep them in great condition.
I grew up in the mountains. I’m Bunun, which is the indigenous people of my nation. For me and my family, life has been a bit hard. My parents passed away due to disease when I was three years old, so my aunt and grandma brought me up. I’ve worked with family members since I was a kid and I also help them hunt. I love being in nature and the mountains make me feel free.
I have always struggled in school. I’m not in regular classes and used to get angry when I had difficulties learning. I would often feel alone. This changed when I was introduced to Special Olympics.
My school became a Unified Champion School, and we shared a physical education class with all the other students. When I first tried to play sports with these other students, I felt shy and didn’t know what to do.
Through Special Olympics, I slowly began to be more comfortable and play sports with the other students. My teacher invited me to join our Unified football team, and it was such a great experience. We trained three times a week, and my Unified partners and I became good friends. They did not treat me strangely and I could express myself on the football field. We also chatted and played games together, just like ordinary high school students.
Our Unified football team trained together for a year and competed in the Special Olympics World Games Berlin 2023. It was the most honorable memory to play in Berlin. I met people from other countries and exchanged gifts with them. I had my birthday in Berlin, and my team planned a celebration for me. I was deeply moved and even wanted to cry, because it was the first time that so many people celebrated my birthday, and so many people said "Happy Birthday" to me.
I would not have had all these experiences without my Special Olympics. Thank you for helping me try bravely and strive for victory. I want to introduce more people to Special Olympics and I hope that I can share my stories with other people to have more people participate in activities and have it help them, just like it helped me.
