The Face
Under
The
Mask
By Erika Glover
Spring | 2019
SICSIC’s whole purpose of being a secret is so that you don’t have to be a certain person, you don’t have to look a certain way, you just have to love Bowling Green,” Courtney Bode, SICSIC alumna and senior special education major, said.
“(SICSIC)’s whole purpose of being a secret is so that you don’t have to be a certain person, you don’t have to look a certain way, you just have to love Bowling Green,” Courtney Bode, SICSIC alumna and senior special education major, said.
For Courtney, whose blonde hair and green eyes were recently unmasked as Michelangelo, also better known as “Mikey,” from the BGSU spirit group, SICSIC, being under the mask was more than just a being a part of a spirit group.
“Any kind of person can connect to (SICSIC). You can feel like you belong. I feel like that connects to special education because in that classroom, it’s so important that they feel important, they feel special, they feel like they belong,” Courtney said.
Since her first day as a student, Courtney says she has always felt like she belonged at BGSU.
“It just felt like home as soon as I stepped on the campus,” she said. “I will never forget the feeling I got when I walked around for the first time, thinking to myself that this was my place to fit in.”
Courtney always knew she was her own unique person, and that she didn’t always feel like she fit in. Over the course of her life, though, she has learned it is okay to be odd.
“Until I started to volunteer in the special education room, I had trouble connecting deeply with my friends. When I was there, I could just be as weird as I wanted. I could have them laughing in no time and I felt like I could just connect to them on such a more important and sincere level,” Courtney said. “I felt like I belonged there, and I could help them feel like they belonged too.”
Nina Spitali, Courtney’s roommate of two years and fellow special education student, was her first secret keeper. She described Courtney as “someone everyone needs in their life.”
“She makes the world around her a better place by bringing smiles and joy to everyone. This is reflected in Mikey,” Spitali said. “Mikey brought so many smiles to so many people.”
This desire to include and encourage has been a part of her since she was young, Courtney’s mother, Jean Bode, said.
“Courtney has the innate ability to make people feel comfortable and she accepts them where they are, all the while gently encouraging them to go farther,” Jean said.
Courtney always knew she was her own unique person, and that she didn’t always feel like she fit in. Over the course of her life, though, she has learned it is okay to be odd.
“Until I started to volunteer in the special education room, I had trouble connecting deeply with my friends. When I was there, I could just be as weird as I wanted. I could have them laughing in no time and I felt like I could just connect to them on such a more important and sincere level,” Courtney said. “I felt like I belonged there, and I could help them feel like they belonged too.”
Nina Spitali, Courtney’s roommate of two years and fellow special education student, was her first secret keeper. She described Courtney as “someone everyone needs in their life.”
“She makes the world around her a better place by bringing smiles and joy to everyone. This is reflected in Mikey,” Spitali said. “Mikey brought so many smiles to so many people.”
This desire to include and encourage has been a part of her since she was young, Courtney’s mother, Jean Bode, said.
“Courtney has the innate ability to make people feel comfortable and she accepts them where they are, all the while gently encouraging them to go farther,” Jean said.
