Wade Sims, current ACCESS Program student, has made Mississippi State University his home.  The ACCESS Program has helped Sims grow into who he is today, a man with ambition.
     Sims, a Mississippi native from Madison who as an undergraduate student studied interdisciplinary studies with concentrations in business, history and kinesiology, said the ACCESS Program has grown since he has been at MSU.
   “Ever since I’ve been here at Mississippi State it has grown from like two or three students from my first year to like six or seven students in this year,” Sims said. “It’s even allowed me to have my very first girlfriend here in Starkville, and that’s exactly why I am staying here, too.”
     Sims has served as the Bully mascot in the past and expressed his feelings for MSU. 
   “It was such a great experience being Bully,” Sims said as he reflected on being the mascot for both football and basketball games. “I came to the games when I was young, and I saw Bully, and I was like, ‘I wanna do that.’” 
     “Mississippi State is such a great school to me, and my mom went to school at Mississippi State, and I am here at Mississippi State,” Sims said. “I want to live in Starkville and stay in Starkville because Mississippi State is just such a special place to me, and Starkville is also a very special place to me.” 
  Sims said MSU and Starkville have become home to him after moving here. Currently, Sims works at Campus Bookmart and the Bulldog Club at MSU but has a desire to work in another area in the future. 
  “I want to work in the athletic department somehow, someway at Mississippi State, but if I could get a full time job at the Campus Bookmart, that would be great too,” Sims said. “Other than working and stuff, I have been an intern with the marketing department at Mississippi State for the past year.” 
    Sims said the ACCESS Program is important for students with special needs and disabilities because it provides care and shows interest in what the students do in school.  
       The ACCESS Program of MSU, which was put into effect during the 2010 to 2011 school year, offers help to students who have intellectual disabilities by supporting them in numerous ways.  ACCESS stands for the values that the program holds high: academics, campus life, community involvement, employment opportunities, socialization and self-awareness.
 
Amanda Cosgriff, graduate assistant for the ACCESS Program from Mandeville, Louisiana, described the program as an initiative to offer hope for parents and students after high school.
Cosgriff said the program teaches students social skills and appropriate behaviors. She said improvement and growth among students is evident, and the program helps empower students to live independently and have a job.
    Cosgriff described Sims as a great guy with a good sense of style.
      “He’s got mad style. He always dresses real nice,” Cosgriff said, saying Sims wears paisley shirts and pants. “He has a really big heart. He has skills now that he did not when he started as a freshman.”
   Cosgriff said Sims has good social skills, is very independent, responsive and receptive. Cosgriff added that Sims takes care of other students.
    Nathan Berry, a senior majoring in industrial technology from Starkville, is a student worker for ACCESS and described Sims as having positive characteristics that make him unique. 
“It can be freezing outside and raining and pouring, and then you see Wade in the morning, and Wade is completely happy about it,” Berry said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Wade in a bad mood. I can be in a bad mood one morning, and when I see Wade in the morning, even if I’m in a bad mood I always end up leaving in a good mood just because of his personality.”
   Berry said Sims is fun to be around and is always thinking on the positive side of things. Berry has also learned from Sims to never give up on what you really want to do. 
    To learn more about the ACCESS Program contact the program at (662) 325-3335 or visit http://www.sss.msstate.edu/access/.