8:30 a.m., Feb. 25, 2010----As the Boston Red Sox headed south to Fort Myers, Fla., in February to prepare for their upcoming season, they were joined by a University of Delaware student who, as an intern with the team for the next two months, will be making his dreams come true.

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Max Orland, from Westport, Conn., and originally from Worcester, Mass., has been an avid Red Sox fan ever since he was little. In middle school, he claimed that one day he would work for the Red Sox, but no one believed him. Orland is a young man with significant disabilities that affect his learning, speech and language.

Now that Orland will be interning with the Red Sox during spring training, the opportunity serves as one of many steps he has taken on his quest to get his dream job. Four years ago, Orland, like any other graduating high school senior, had to decide what he wanted to do after high school, but the opportunities ahead of him seemed limited.

Orland said that when he graduated he wanted to be a part of the mainstream and experience things that other young adults experience. He did not want to be separated because of his disabilities. One option Orland had was to participate in a life skills program housed on a local college campus. Had he enrolled, he would have continued to live at home, been shuttled to segregated classes at the life skills program, worked at a mundane job that he had no voice in choosing and returned home in the evenings. His social universe would have consisted of the half dozen students and the instructors in the program. His hopes of a social life would be bare. This alternative was anything but ideal for him.

Fortunately for Orland, some fortuitous contacts at UD's College of Education and Public Policy came along with opportunities very different than those offered by the life skills program. He would have the chance to enjoy a real college experience and take part in what many young adults take for granted.

At UD, Orland was able to attend classes in subjects he had a passion for, such as sport management, which helped him think about sports in a different way. He interacted with professors, especially in the Sport Management Program, who energized him into working hard and provided him with mentors and advocates to advance his career goals. Now he has earned 60 credits in four years as a continuing education student.

Orland's college experiences included attending sporting events and rooting for the Blue Hens, studying in the library and eating in the dining halls. Living on his own since his freshman year, he quickly adjusted to new responsibilities, such as doing his own laundry, driving around the Newark area, shopping for his own food and handling his own finances. This independence is something he enjoys having, he said.

Orland's disabilities did not stop him from getting the education and college experience he wanted, nor did they stop him from pursuing his professional goals. During the summers from 2007-09, he served in many roles in the front office, on the field, in the clubhouse and as a team mascot with the Bridgeport Bluefish baseball team of the independent Atlantic League. In the summer of 2009, he worked with the Pawtucket Red Sox, the AAA affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, assisting with concessions on game days.

“I know that if I work hard and have an upbeat and positive attitude, I can succeed,” Orland says about his professional experiences. “I always want to get better, so if I can change myself to make me a better person, I will do that.”

While gaining valuable work experience behind the scenes in professional baseball, he has also been a part of the baseball culture at UD, serving as a student manager. Orland has been with the team for the past three seasons and plans to work with the team for the Blue Hens' stretch run when he returns from the Red Sox spring training site in April.

He has also served as the men's basketball team manager, preparing the locker room and court for practices and games and assisting in the videotaping of practices and games and in managing the team's equipment. He said it was wonderful to be around the team, and that the players and coaches treated him nicely and were there to support him.

UD baseball head coach Jim Sherman said Orland has worked tirelessly at what he has done on and off the field, and it has been a great marriage between the team and Orland, as the players think of him as one of the guys.

“He's been outstanding,” Sherman said. “On behalf of all the players during Max's era, we've enjoyed having him around, and I know he has gained some great friendships along the way.”

While Orland was unable to live in the UD residence halls since he was not a matriculated student, he was able to find an apartment to live in just off campus. He said the apartment was close to where some of his baseball teammates lived and that he considered them to be his roommates.

“It is like family,” Orland said about his relationships with the members of the baseball team. “Coach Sherman told me on the first day that he would make sure I was part of the team, and he did. He created an environment where I could learn from my teammates and they could learn from me. I love going to practice everyday and working at the games. I have learned so much about baseball, teamwork, friendship and life.”

Orland's responsibilities with the baseball team included preparing equipment, the field and the dugout before and after games and practices, serving as the team's bat and ball boy, as well as organizing, loading and unloading equipment for the team's road trips. Members of the team agree that Orland's great sense of humor keeps everybody loose.

“We're kind of lost without him,” Sherman said. “When he's not around, the players are always asking 'Where's Max?' ”

When he first received word that he would be interning for the Red Sox, Orland said he could not believe his lifelong dream was becoming a reality.

“I was breath-taken. I didn't know who to text or call first. I am very excited to have the opportunity to go to spring training, be around the players and work for my favorite team,” he said, adding that he will do anything and everything he is asked to do and is eager to learn as much as he can.

“I am excited about being able to use the knowledge that I gained in my sport management classes and my experiences working with the teams here at another level,” he said. “I feel that I am so well prepared.”

Orland says that while he's in Florida, he will miss his UD friends and his baseball teammates and coaches, but he knows that his friends will always be there, and they will be happy that he is able to have this great opportunity. He added that he hopes some of his friends will be able to visit him while he is in Fort Myers.

Orland said his four years at UD have been an excellent experience, as he developed many social skills, stretched his academic universe, experienced sports at the ground level and grew as a person. Now, he wants to spread his message that colleges and universities should give more opportunities to students with significant disabilities, including inclusion in residential life, because they can thrive and contribute as well, if given the opportunity.

Article by Jon Bleiweis