#50for50: Volume 33
▪️ Katie Miller
▪️ 42 years old
▪️ Berks County
“It was in 2008 when I first got involved. I hadn’t played volleyball before that and I was looking for social activities to do. It was kind of different, only because I was kind of shy. And I didn’t have many friends in high school. When I started Special Olympics, I had one friend and then I became friends with a lot of other people throughout the county and the state. … Going to Villanova for Fall Festival was really neat. Seeing the basketball players and Jay Wright was really cool, too. I’m actually a Duke fan, though, but I liked seeing the players and I liked being with my friends and being able to compete and be with the coaches. … I did soccer and then I did floor hockey. And this year I did bocce. I’ve done swimming for a couple of years and I did basketball and then softball. It was kind of difficult going from swimming to softball because we had practice on the same day. But I did that for two seasons. I’m gonna go with softball as my favorite sport. We run the bases, we do throwing, we do hitting and I really liked the commercial we did once. And we also practice with the Reading Fightin’ Phillies. We’d go to the ballpark and practice with them and there were a couple of Fightin’ Phils who went on to play for the Philadelphia Phillies. I know a couple of them. One time at Kutztown I had a great catch in left field and everyone was jumping up and down. It was a line drive, I had my glove up and I caught it. … I’m also Global Messenger and Athlete Representative for Berks County. I had to apply and we went through a lot of training. I was a little nervous at first when speaking. But when I was in high school my dad helped me a lot with public speaking. He taught me how to vocalize my volume, to speak up more, because I am soft spoken. I spoke at the Opening Ceremonies at Kutztown and Stroudsburg and at Alvernia in a classroom with a professor. She sat next to me at Kutztown and then asked me to come into her class and speak about Special Olympics with her students. She was a sports education teacher. … I’m proud to be a Special Olympics athlete. I always put the motto in my speeches. I always find a way to work that in. One time I spoke at a Division III Ice Hockey championship banquet. I started speaking, but I lost my place. But then I pulled it back together and that brought them to their feet. They really enjoyed my speech. … I work at Prospectus Berco three days a week. We do assembly work and package food items, too. They have a flour room where we weigh flour. I’ve been there for two years. I also help kindergarten teachers at my local elementary school. I put books together, sort math papers and whatever else they need me to do. I also help babysit my nephew three days a week. I try to fit everything in. I do daily chores and coloring and watch sports on TV and do gardening work. I really like spending time with my family and being around my friends.”
