This past week, I listened as a man spoke about his son at a Special Olympics Unified event. His son, who is a chess champion, has spent hours of his life competing in tournaments. Then one day he started to volunteer with the Special Olympics.

“You know, Dad, intelligence is overrated,” the son told his father after volunteering. “I felt more connected to humanity and more alive at that event than I’ve felt at all my chess events combined.”

The father said hearing his son say that was a watershed moment for him. I love that he put the experience in those terms. We’ve all had watershed moments in our lives. This coming week we also honor a watershed moment in our nation’s history: the Fourth of July.