An aspiring special education teacher who’s found her own support system through the Teacher Scholars Academy, sophomore Jenny Castor was immediately drawn to the mission of the Best Buddies RSO as a way of helping others find their own support systems.

“Best Buddies is a friendship and leadership movement where students work alongside people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to hold fun social events on campus,” said Castor, who hails from Techumseh, Nebraska. “It’s really all about just hanging out and building relationships.”

From scavenger hunts to gingerbread house contests, Best Buddies’ social gatherings can be anything. The main thing, Castor said, is bringing people together to make lasting connections.

“One of my favorite parts of Best Buddies is running into people on campus who’ve attended events,” she said. “Even if we don’t remember each other’s names, we’ll be like ‘Hey, I remember you from Best Buddies.’”

Castor was first introduced to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Best Buddies group through a friend. Since then, she’s served as the social media chair and, more recently, treasurer.

“We make buddy matches and pair UNL students with folks with IDDs,” Castor said. “We will help organize fun one-on-one things to do, like go get ice cream and other things.”

Castor makes time for Best Buddies between her other College of Education and Human Sciences involvements, namely being part of the Teacher Scholars Academy and working at Hartley Elementary — all of which are helping her gain valuable experience as a future teacher.

“I love it so much — I don’t even see it as a job,” she said of her work at Hartley.

And although Best Buddies shares some connections to Castor’s major, she stresses that anyone can (and should) get involved.

“Anyone, any major and any year in school can be in Best Buddies,” Castor emphasized. “It’s such a fun place to come where you can be your own person, laugh and just be happy.”