Kristina Conner, wife, mother, volunteer, self advocate with Down syndrome

Since we met Kristina a little over a year ago, she has made a huge impact on the lives of so many at GiGi’s Playhouse Des Moines! Kristina currently volunteers three times a week as the GiGi Academy Fitness Instructor. Kristina’s passion for dance lends itself perfectly to put the fun in fitness, and her compassion for people and exuberance for life inspires her students to encourage each other as they give their best of all each day. Furthermore, as a parent of a teenage daughter Kristina’s patience allows her to instruct in a supportive and loving way.

Volunteering at GiGi’s, Kristina is empowered and fulfilled because she feels a deep connection with each student. After her first experience volunteering at GiGi Prep in the spring of 2015, she shared that throughout class she kept thinking “I get you, I get you.” She expressed a warm closeness and understanding between herself and the students, and she was excited to volunteer more.

Kristina and her husband Scott moved from the west coast in early 2014 for Scott’s next work project. The day Kristina walked into GiGi’s she explained that her husband’s career brings her family to a new home about every two years, and with each move Kristina makes an effort to connect with individuals who have Mosaic Down syndrome. She said that some googling brought her to the GiGi’s website, and she was so excited because she hadn’t met many people with the diagnosis. She further explained that “I want to make connections because I have Mosaic Down syndrome.”

Kristina went on to explain that she “always felt different than everyone else and never really new why. I struggled in my educations from elementary school all the way up to high school. In elementary school I learned that I had a learning disability, Dyslexia, and I had to repeat second grade. I also went through a lot of difficult times in high school.” Kristina continued explaining that when she was 17, she moved to a smaller town where class size was smaller, and she received extra help from her teacher. This high school was also part time, so Kristina was able to get a job and have her own apartment. Kristina shared that during her senior year she was short credits to graduate, so she had to repeat her senior year. School wasn’t easy, but Kristina never gave up. She said, “I was glad I repeated my senior year as it helped me succeed later in life and I proved to myself I could do it.”

When Kristina was in her mid twenties she had a baby with Trisomy 21, Down syndrome, but sadly her baby was stillborn.  Upon testing a couple years later, Kristina explains that “finally, at the age of 28 years old I tested positive for Mosaic Down Syndrome.” With the diagnosis in Kristina’s late 20s, came a sense of clarity for the learning difficulties she had experienced, and it also brought a feeling of pride that she had overcome so much. Kristina shares that “I continue to learn more about myself as I go through the journey of life.”

We are so grateful that Kristina walked into GiGi’s last spring, and we have been touched by her story more than we could ever explain. We are inspired by Kristina’s perseverance, and it reminds us to never give up and always try your best. Kristina is a wife, a mother, a dancer, a dreamer, a volunteer, an advocate, and most of all a wonderful friend. Kristina has Down syndrome, but Down syndrome doesn’t have her. We look forward to many more days with Kristina, and we are so happy to call her our friend.