My town in Michigan has a few coffee shops and restaurants scattered throughout the 30 mile radius. One thing that it's is known for is its high school. The High School is home to over 2,000 students and has two separate buildings to occupy the mass number of children; this is my home town and my school.

During my junior year, an upcoming class caught my attention. The following year a new class was to be launched called the LINK Program. The LINK Program would give average students a chance to be paired up with an autistic student in the school to help the student with the social aspects of high school. My mom was a special education teacher in the district and the LINK Program was going to give me a chance to live in her shoes.

The start of my senior year was a busy one but I was looking forward to meeting my LINK student. When I met my LINK student, I’ll admit I was scared. I had seen him in the hallways and I knew he wasn’t like me. The thoughts running through my head were ones that I wasn’t proud of.

“What if other kids make fun of me for hanging out with him?”

The first couple of days of the class were a mix of emotions. I had come to the realization that my LINK buddy was one of the nicest kids to ever enter the school. He would talk to me for hours about how my day was or what I was doing after school. He loved books; books of every genre. My LINK buddy could name the author of every book ever published and could tell you what happened in every chapter. My LINK buddy inspired me to dig deeper into books, to find their true meaning, not to just read words printed in ink on the page.

My LINK buddy is now my role model and I see Autism in a different light. Autism simply hides a person’s feelings and it takes someone like a LINK to get them out. I have discovered the underlying personality of my LINK buddy and it is the greatest personality I have ever seen.