I experienced a lot during this week of the PRT Integrated Core. I personally feel that I learned a lot from Brian's presentation. Brian did his presentation on disability in sport. He chose a story of this young man, Mitchell Marcus. Mitchell's story begins with his disability and his love for basketball. He became his high school's basketball team manager, and helped the team on the sidelines. The coach saw his love for the game, so on their final game he let Mitchell suit up, what Mitchell didn't know was that he was going to get to play. The coach let Mitchell in and every chance Mitchell got he missed the basket. With only a minute left in the game a player on the opposing team passed the ball to Mitchell and he made the shot!
During the video it reminded me of what we discussed in class about a person's master status. A master status is the primary identifying characteristic of a person in society. In my mind I felt Mitchell's master status was his disability, what he is known for in society. After our class discussion though I felt I had looked at the situation the wrong way. I got goosebumps when the player on the opposing team passed him the ball and let him take the shot. That is such an amazing quality in a person to have. It was looking past a chance at winning the game and giving a young man a chance who may not get many in life.
Although Mitchell has a disability it doesn't define who he is, it's just apart of who he is. He is a son, friend, manager, high school student and has a passion for basketball. I can't speak for everyone, but myself I tend to look at a person's master status and ultimately make my decision on who they are and what their abilities are. Although Mitchell may have missed a few baskets at the game, he did make one and that is more than some people could ever do. If I first met Mitchell and learned he had a disability I would assume he would be working on the sidelines, helping with water, as terrible as that may sound. My little brother has a learning disability as well as a disability that caused him to undergo surgery on his legs. He was put on the sidelines with no hope for his love of hockey. He showed everyone wrong, graduated high school and is now playing junior level hockey. Just because someone may hold a master status of one thing it shouldn't define who they are.
I am going to start trying to look at everyone from a different perspective. When our TA, Preston, was engaging us in our discussion he told us to try and look at our thoughts in a different perspective. If we were very strong argued one way, try and see the other side of things. When I meet someone or have heard things about someone I am not going to cling to their master status or how they are perceived. I am going to look at all of their statuses and look at the person they are. I feel it's something we all say we are going to do, "don't judge a book by its cover," but it is something so overlooked.
I felt the discussion really got the class involved and I can truly say I took something away from class this week.
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