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Jennifer Savitscus has been a Spanish teacher for the past twelve years. Its one of my greatest passions in life she said. Jenny has taught students of all ages through the years from youngchildreninpreschool to retired adults hoping to learn a second language. Still she doesnt encounter many people on a daily basis that speak Spanish in her area. She said I live in Ohio and I dont have all that many opportunities to practice my spoken Spanish. However my eyes and ears are always open for an opportunity to practice. So 10 years ago when Jenny came across a websitecalledmeetup.comthatwouldallowherto find people in her area that shared her interest in Spanish conversation she was thrilled. She said The first meetup group that I joined was a Spanish meetup group in the Akron Ohio area. By joining this group I found that there are a number of people living in Akron who speak Spanish want to practice it and get together regularly in order to do so The first meetup that I attended was at a local restaurant chain. A group of about 10 people were gathered around a table eating lunch and talking in Spanish A whole new world of regular Spanish conversation and camaraderie had suddenly opened up to Jenny and her enthusiasm about it was infectious. Jenny said that one of the aspects she thinks is most exciting about meetup.com is that its not just for people who love Spanish. She said Think of any interest gardening computers musicals movie watching fine dining socializing do-it-yourself repairs. Theres a meetup group for it If there isnt one already then why not create one When Jenny was diagnosed with MS in March 2015 thats exactly what she did. She said My way of facing this diagnosis was a strong desire to meet and know others also living with MS. So that same month she created a group called Columbus MS Friends Support. Like most groups it started small. I met the first member of the group later that same month for coffee and lunch. It was such a relief for me to meet someone my age who understood not only my symptoms but what I was going through emotionally as well she said. As a teacher Jenny has the summer off and she knew that break would provide her with the free time she needed to help the group grow and schedule more frequent and consistent meetings. On June 7 2015 the group held its first official meetup which brought 10 people together including seven people with MS and three support partners. Little by little the group continued to grow and I became more educated on the resources and national organizations that support people living with MS. As I learned more about the available resources I started to think that it made sense to try to align the meetup group with one of the national MS organizations. Doing so would be a way of both attracting new members and supporting the current members with more resources Jenny said. However she was concerned that if she did so the structure and format of her meetings might have to change. Once she learned that all of the support groups affiliated with the MSF are independent self- governing and maintain control over their From Meetups to Meetings Columbus MS Friends Support Group Westerville Ohio 2