Andrew Rowan donned the red, white and blue to represent his nation last summer.

He undertook the captain’s mantle for the United States Men’s U21 National Team in the 2023 FIVB World Championship.

But the UCLA men’s volleyball sophomore setter wrote a more purposeful chapter to his summer.

Rowan continued his tradition of volunteering as a counselor at Special Camp – a nonprofit organization in San Juan Capistrano, California, that provides resources and a second home for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

“Helping these individuals comes before volleyball and a lot of other things in my life,” Rowan said. “They do not always get the same opportunities we do, so giving them the opportunity to live as normal of a life as they can is one of the most important things that I try to do.”

Rowan’s desire to aid people with disabilities arose because of his sister, Teresa Rowan, who has a disability. Amid a household of six siblings, Andrew forged the strongest bond with Teresa.

Seeing the world through Teresa’s eyes prompted Andrew to be an advocate for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

“We definitely have a very close family unit, but Andrew and Teresa are two peas in a pod,” said Katie Rowan, Andrew’s sister. “Andrew has such a strong love for her, and Teresa has such a strong love for him. She’ll want to go to every single one of his games and is always supporting the volleyball team, and Andrew, likewise, is always supporting Teresa and everything she does.”

Andrew’s relationship with Teresa ignited a zeal in him to advocate for individuals with disabilities. And once Teresa joined Special Camp, Andrew found his calling.

Catering to individuals ages six to 21, the camp implements a one-on-one matching system where each camper is paired with a counselor. Each summer, around 150 campers and counselors attend the three-week long camp.

The Rowan family has a long history with Special Camp. Teresa started going as a camper and since her first day, Katie began volunteering – after which each of their siblings followed suit.

Andrew first joined Special Camp as a sophomore in high school, spurred on by Teresa and Katie’s noticeable love and enthusiasm for the program. During these two years, as a senior staff administrator for the camp, Katie recognized the relationship between her younger brother and the camp.

“He had such a strong impact as a counselor by fully diving in and embracing the whole experience that the following summer, after his second year as a counselor, we asked to bring him back as a senior counselor,” Katie said. “Because of volleyball, he’s very busy, so he was not able to commit for a whole week, but he’ll come whenever he can because he truly does love camp.”

Katie recognized that counselors often go to camp intending to impact someone else’s life. But in many instances, the reverse unfolds – the counselor’s life is irrevocably changed.

“It’s one of the greatest moral challenges and accomplishments I feel like I’ve grown up with,” Andrew said. “You learn things such as patience and making sure that they’re comfortable. It’s really important in how you approach other relationships with certain people and in realizing not one person is the same as another.”

Although volleyball has consumed Andrew’s time and energy in recent years – preventing him from contributing to Special Camp as much as he previously had – the impact the organization has had is lifelong.

And it’s largely thanks to his and Teresa’s indomitable connection.

“Andrew has learned to see life a little differently than he would have if he did not have a special needs person around his life,” said Chuck Rowan, Andrew’s father. “He has learned that serving others is an important aspect of having a purposeful life and being part of something that’s greater than yourself.”

The relationship Andrew created with his very first camper sculpted his character. The camper was nonverbal – forcing Andrew to find a nonverbal medium of connection. Through facial expressions and games, Rowan was able to establish a deep-rooted bond.

Adopting a form of nonverbal communication and adapting his patience taught Andrew to be calm and collected when the lights are bright and the expectations are high. His ability to communicate effectively proved pertinent to his role as UCLA’s primary setter.

“If you watch him on the court, he’s pretty calm, he’s in control, he’s really great at communicating, and he always wants what’s best for his teammates,” Chuck said. “I can say the same for the kids at the camp because Andrew understands that when everybody’s successful, he’ll be successful.”

Katie said the qualities Andrew honed as a Special Camp counselor have spilled onto the volleyball court.

“On every team he’s ever been on, his team really does look up to him,” Katie said. “I truly think that so much of him being that leader really developed at Special Camp.”