For every athlete who participates in the Special Olympics, there is a story of how the Games have impacted their lives.

"Special Olympics has shown me all the things I can do," Jennifer Seeburger of Hebron said. "Knowing that other people believed in me really helped my confidence level. It got me out of my shell.

"I was very, very shy in high school. I didn't think I could do anything, especially sports. I never would've thought in a million years that I could do basketball, win a track meet or anything."

Seeburger, 35, is part of the Indiana delegation that will participate in the 2010 Special Olympics USA National Games July 18-23 in Lincoln, Neb. A self advocate with The Arc of Indiana, she has come miles from the withdrawn girl who Porter County Coordinator Lorrie Woycik first met at age 9, after Seeburger was mildly paralyzed and disabled in a car accident when she was 6.

"The thing that's so cool about Special Olympics sports is, the experiences are kind of a learning tool," Woycik said.

"Jennifer took a long time. She had a terrible self image, zero self confidence. I always told her if I made her put a quarter in a jar every time she said she was sorry, I could go to Hawaii. Now she's an athlete leader. She does speeches. What a wonderful turnaround. That's the blessing of Special Olympics -- what it does for a person's life."

Drew Metzgar would certainly attest. Legally blind with cerebral palsy, the Lakes of the Four Seasons resident graduated from Valparaiso University with a Master's degree in history and sports management. He has been accepted into Northern Illinois University's blind education program, where he is working toward a Ph.D. in disability studies. He plans to learn how to teach the blind.

"The most important thing that Special Olympics taught me was self confidence, skills like public speaking," Metzgar said. "Swimming and Lorrie helped me develop that."

In 2006, Metzgar attended the Games in Iowa as a spectator. On a bus en route to a basketball game, he met Texas basketball player Leonard Flowers, a Special Olympian who played the character Jimmy in the 2005 movie, "The Ringer." He also was captured by the spirit of the event.

"I was really impressed by the level of competition," he said. "The camaraderie of the different people from different places was pretty amazing."

An accomplished swimmer before breaking his wrist in high school, Metzgar will play team and doubles bocce (lawn bowling) with a group that includes Tammy Kmiec of Crown Point.

"I'm not as fast as I used to be (swimming), so I started playing bocce," said Metzgar, describing the game as a grass version of curling. "There are a lot of swimmers, so my chances were a lot better with bocce. When I first started, I was doing it for fun. As it went on, I got a lot more serious. A lot of thinking goes into each shot."

The trip to Lincoln won't be Metzgar's first. He attended a Nebraska football game in 2008.

"We get to practice in the new facility for the football team," he said.

Seeburger will do the 400- and 800-meter race walks and the javelin throw. The javelin is a modified rubber-tipped version of the actual throwing spear.

"When Lorrie told me I'd be doing the javelin, I said, 'What?!'" Seeburger said. "I've never done it before. I'm still not very strong with it, but I'm getting better. I'm not looking for any medals, but a ribbon would be nice."

The trip will mark just the second time Seeburger, who will room with Erin Gunnick of Griffith, has ever flown.

"I'm excited," she said. "I've never been with that many athletes in one place before. I'm looking forward to meeting new people."