Hello, my name is Mia Peterson
and now I'd like to talk about a story that I read in a newsletter
that I had interest in called 'Social Capital'
and the importance of social capital is your so-called friends or friends around the crowd
to me, social capital is defined in many different ways
but basically, it's defined of like a circle of friends, a group of people that you talk to
who are self-advocates and, it's like drawing in a crowd, getting closer to the other folks that are around it and around you
and getting to know each other well and getting to know them better
Why social capital is important is so you can open up and talk to other people more
and it makes it easier to talk to your friends and family when they have other people
outside who don't know who you are and they want to get to know you better.
One of the first steps is to share about you
and your family and friends.
and in the second step, is getting to know a good, small group, and getting to know other people
is the other step
the third step is your clubs and other groups to go to and have fun
like there's a group called Easter Seals, for instance
that I, myself, am getting involved in going to some different places like 
I would go to the bowling alley and want to go bowling
I want to go to the YMCA and exercise
go to a group that's at a place where you can just talk
and have that so-called bonding time with other new people and getting to know new people
and sometimes going out and having a meal together sometime
as an example of social capital in my life
it's been important to me...being able that I am open up enough that I can talk to other people now
and going out to other social groups, to other social places
going to plays, going to events, maybe going out for a drink with your two sisters
with your family or with the people that you just met and want to get to know them
maybe just go someplace and have a drink; that's what I like to do and that's fun for me
and going out for walks with my family
and going out for walks with other people and just getting to meet them for the first time
that takes a lot of social capital
I am one that likes to be social with people
I am a go-getter so I like to get out, and 
that's what I consider something fun that I like to do
