{"id":102649,"date":"2018-08-17T16:16:35","date_gmt":"2018-08-17T20:16:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/?page_id=102649"},"modified":"2019-02-14T11:46:25","modified_gmt":"2019-02-14T16:46:25","slug":"jack-mayor-best-buddies","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/what-we-do\/featured-profiles\/jack-mayor-best-buddies\/","title":{"rendered":"Jack Mayor"},"content":{"rendered":"
My buddy Josie didn\u2019t care that I had Autism.<\/strong> She didn\u2019t care that I rocked or tapped. She found out what I liked — for instance, ice cream and hot dogs and disliked — string cheese and the song Heartless by Kanye West. Josie talked with me, not to me. She listened. Actually listened.\u00a0 She took the time to get to know me, the real me. Things that scared me, things that made me happy. She took me to my favorite places to eat. She made me feel like I mattered to someone other than my family members.<\/strong><\/p>\n Josie, actually, helped launch my speaking career. She nominated me for my first speaking gig at our high school because she knew I liked to talk and felt my story was worth hearing.\u00a0 Josie believes in me and accepts me for \u201cwho I am meant to be.\u201d<\/strong> She gave me something priceless, something I so desperately needed: her true friendship.[\/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/4″][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”102667″ img_size=”full”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/4″][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text]Last year, I came to [Leadership\u00a0Conference] as a kid comfortable with a microphone and a partially memorized speech in his head.\u00a0 In my time at [Leadership\u00a0Conference], I worked hard with speech coaches, practicing my speech over and over again. It felt like I was auditioning for the America Idol version for public speakers.\u00a0 The coaches taught me when to inflect my voice, when to pause, when to be energetic, when to be emotional. They taught me how to engage my audience. They taught me to slow my pace and to wait for the applause to finish before I started speaking again. Most of all, they gave me the confidence I needed<\/strong> to get up here and speak in front of all of you now.<\/p>\n After all of that, believe it or not, I was chosen to speak at closing ceremonies last year. I was asked to share my story about meeting Josie through Best Buddies and to share how she changed my life. I talked about how being involved in this organization not only healed my heart, but opened it up to a new best friend. The speech I gave on this stage was unlike any speech I had ever delivered before. I stood in front of the largest and most welcoming crowd I had ever seen, filled with overwhelming pride and emotion. In one weekend, Best Buddies taught me to be a public speaker.<\/strong> I left here, one year ago, with life-changing skills. Skills that I have used to educate others across the country, to better my life and discover my passion for public speaking. My mom asked me \u201cWhat other organization can do that?\u201d The answer is \u201dNONE! There isn\u2019t one.”[\/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/4″][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″] Another goal of mine is to help get Best Buddies in as many schools as possible. I know exactly what it feels like to sit alone at lunch, to dread walking through the doors each day. I don\u2019t want one more kid to feel the way I did.\u00a0 Best Buddies has given me the best days of my life.<\/strong> Everyone deserves their best days and EVERY kid deserves Best Buddies.<\/p>\n What I am about to say needs to be heard by every parent, educator, and politician\u2026.Best Buddies is changing lives.<\/strong> It is teaching people around the world to see our abilities instead of our labels. Me, standing right here on this stage before you. I am proof of that change.<\/p>\n I\u2019m stealing some lines from our theme song this year\u2026\u201cI am brave, I am bruised, I am who I\u2019m meant to be.\u201d And because of Best Buddies, \u201cI\u2019m not scared to be seen. I make no apologies\u201d because \u201cTHIS IS ME!\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n I am extremely honored to introduce the man that created the best organization on this planet. He\u2019s a man who, instead of saying that I have special needs, says that I have special abilities.\u00a0 He\u2019s a man who knows those special abilities are worthy of respect, love, and acceptance. He\u2019s a man whose entire mission has been to fight for kids like me. I am extremely honored, to fight for his– and our\u2014organization. Please join me in welcoming our founder, Anthony Kennedy Shriver.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/i><\/a>\u00a0More Global Ambassador Profiles<\/a>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Featured Profile [\/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=”Jack Mayor” font_container=”tag:h4|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1534532349678{margin-top: -10px !important;}”][vc_custom_heading text=”Global Ambassador” font_container=”tag:h4|font_size:20px|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1447902052742{margin-top: -22px !important;}”][vc_separator color=”custom” border_width=”8″ accent_color=”#f37735″][vc_column_text]Hi Everyone. My name is Jack Mayor and I\u2019m from Naperville, Illinois. Last year at this time, I was sitting in this auditorium, as you are now, nervous about what […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":102662,"parent":4015,"menu_order":18,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"yoast_head":"\n