{"id":99071,"date":"2018-03-02T23:28:58","date_gmt":"2018-03-03T04:28:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/?p=99071"},"modified":"2019-11-12T15:48:10","modified_gmt":"2019-11-12T20:48:10","slug":"christina-hundley-gaining-confidence-best-buddies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/2018\/03\/02\/christina-hundley-gaining-confidence-best-buddies\/","title":{"rendered":"Christina Hundley: Gaining Confidence Through Best Buddies"},"content":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column width=”8\/12″][vc_column_text]\n

Christina Hundley: Gaining Confidence Through Best Buddies<\/h1>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”99077″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]Hello, everyone! My name is Christina Hundley and I am a Best Buddies Ambassador and participant at the University of South Florida (USF).<\/p>\n

I was born at Tampa General Hospital in 1983; I was raised by my aunt, BJ, in Florida after my parents dropped me off at my grandmother\u2019s house and never came back.\u00a0School was hard for me.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was teased until I found Best Buddies in middle school. My bond with my middle school buddy helped me because I felt protected from everyone\u2019s teasing and her friendship gave me something to look forward to every day. My Best Buddies\u2019 friendships carried me through high school and now through college at USF where I am a part of the STAGES (Successful Transition After Graduation for Exceptional Students) program.<\/p>\n

With the support of my Best Buddies\u2019 friendships, I gained the confidence to find a job at the Fresh Food Company at USF where I\u2019ve worked for the past 12 years.[\/vc_column_text][vc_video link=”https:\/\/youtu.be\/HjtXWto-0cg” align=”center”][vc_column_text]The friendships that I\u2019ve made through Best Buddies and my job have put me on the road to independence and success.\u00a0Gaining friends and being independent are two things I hold dear, but singing also has a special place in my heart!<\/strong>\u00a0At the age of nine, my aunt gave me a karaoke machine to help me open up more.<\/p>\n

My love of music flourished. Best Buddies helped me take my love and passion for singing and share it with the world. I\u2019ve had the opportunity to sing at Best Buddies Friendship Walks in Tampa and have been invited to sing at the Best Buddies Challenge: Hearst Castle in California and the Best Buddies Challenge: Hyannis Port in Massachusetts.<\/p>\n

Of all my accomplishments, I am proudest of winning the 2016 Buddy Talent<\/em> competition and traveling to the\u00a027th Annual Best Buddies Leadership Conference<\/em>\u00a0in Indiana to perform on stage in front of thousands of people (see video above). I\u2019ve had a lot of amazing experiences thanks to Best Buddies![\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”99075″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]In closing, I want to leave you with a thought on one of my favorite words: \u201cunique.\u201d<\/strong>The word is defined as \u201cbeing the only one of its kind.\u201d Nobody shares exactly the same combination of traits, characteristics or hobbies.\u00a0The moral of my story is that it is who you are and what you do that matters \u2014 not how you look<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Best Buddies helped me find my \u201cuniqueness\u201d and I\u2019m proud of what I\u2019ve accomplished thanks to this great organization.[\/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]I Want Donate<\/a>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]I want to Volunteer<\/a>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/12″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”3\/12″ css=”.vc_custom_1520550329143{padding-top: 15px !important;background-color: #efefef !important;}”][vc_single_image image=”99200″ img_size=”full” alignment=”right” onclick=”custom_link” img_link_target=”_blank” link=”https:\/\/shop.bestbuddies.org” el_class=”shop-banner”][vc_separator color=”custom” accent_color=”#d8d8d8″][vc_single_image image=”99209″ img_size=”full” alignment=”right” onclick=”custom_link” img_link_target=”_blank” link=”https:\/\/www.r-word.org” el_class=”rword-banner”][vc_separator color=”custom” accent_color=”#d8d8d8″][vc_single_image image=”99208″ img_size=”full” alignment=”right” onclick=”custom_link” img_link_target=”_blank” link=”http:\/\/www.bestbuddiesfriendshipwalk.org” el_class=”bbfw-banner”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was born at Tampa General Hospital in 1983; I was raised by my aunt, BJ, in Florida after my parents dropped me off at my grandmother\u2019s house and never came back. School was hard for me. I was teased until I found Best Buddies in middle school. My bond with my middle school buddy helped me because I felt protected from everyone\u2019s teasing and her friendship gave me something to look forward to every day…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":99079,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"news-single-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[802,86,676],"tags":[87,715,703,115,116],"yoast_head":"\nChristina Hundley: Gaining Confidence Through Best Buddies - Best Buddies International<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/2018\/03\/02\/christina-hundley-gaining-confidence-best-buddies\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Christina Hundley: Gaining Confidence Through Best Buddies - Best Buddies International\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I was born at Tampa General Hospital in 1983; I was raised by my aunt, BJ, in Florida after my parents dropped me off at my grandmother\u2019s house and never came back. 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My bond with my middle school buddy helped me because I felt protected from everyone\u2019s teasing and her friendship gave me something to look forward to every day...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/2018\/03\/02\/christina-hundley-gaining-confidence-best-buddies\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Best Buddies International\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-03-03T04:28:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-11-12T20:48:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/ch-bbm.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"dheinrich\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"dheinrich\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/2018\/03\/02\/christina-hundley-gaining-confidence-best-buddies\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/2018\/03\/02\/christina-hundley-gaining-confidence-best-buddies\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"dheinrich\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/#\/schema\/person\/acc981799f9a35a3df8cc8eee0904800\"},\"headline\":\"Christina Hundley: Gaining Confidence Through Best Buddies\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-03-03T04:28:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-11-12T20:48:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/2018\/03\/02\/christina-hundley-gaining-confidence-best-buddies\/\"},\"wordCount\":687,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/2018\/03\/02\/christina-hundley-gaining-confidence-best-buddies\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/ch-bbm.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Best Buddies\",\"Best Buddies Ambassador\",\"Best Buddies Month\",\"friendship\",\"social inclusion\"],\"articleSection\":[\"#BestBuddiesMonth\",\"Ambassadors\",\"News Archive\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/2018\/03\/02\/christina-hundley-gaining-confidence-best-buddies\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/2018\/03\/02\/christina-hundley-gaining-confidence-best-buddies\/\",\"name\":\"Christina Hundley: Gaining Confidence Through Best Buddies - 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