Like many high school students, Karissa Schauer wanted to go to the prom.

She knew her friends were going, and everyone at Century High School talked about it in class and in the hallway.

Her mother didn't want her to get her hopes up, but Marcia Schauer should have known better. When Karissa wants something, she figures out how to make it work, Marcia Schauer said.

Karissa attended the prom, wearing a floor-length watermelon-pink gown and pink canvas shoes. Her date, who was a good head taller than her, bent over her in the grand march picture. She and her date had more in common than most prom-goers. They both have a chromosome abnormality known as Down Syndrome.

Karissa is a guest speaker at the Designer Genes Buddy Walk. It is being held Saturday on the Capitol grounds. Registration and pre-walk entertainment and activities begin at 10 a.m., and the approximately one-mile walk kicks off at 11 a.m. Registration is on the Capitol steps and the walk follows the loop.

Down Syndrome is caused by an extra chromosome and it affects one in 733 babies, according to the National Down Syndrome Society. Marcia Schauer's doctors thought there was a chance of Karissa being born with the abnormality, but didn't say anything. She found out the day her daughter was born.

Marcia Schauer went from knowing what she knew in a clinical sense because of her nurse's training, to learning about it from the sense of a parent.

"I only envisioned the worst-case scenario," she said. "My first glimpse of her I said, 'Oh, my goodness, she's so beautiful.'"

Now she's in her last year of school. It's important to her to get good grades. Her favorite class is fashion, where she just completed a tote bag and received an A.

It hasn't always been easy. Sometimes other kids are mean.

"It's sad seeing kids making fun of her," said Austin, her 11-year-old brother. "To me, there is no difference between normal kids and Down Syndrome kids. They're all people."

His sister is "big-time" organized and helps clean his room. She's also very kind and caring, he said. In return, he helps her do things she wouldn't normally do, like sled down a steep hill. In the end, she had fun, but she didn't like getting wet, she said.

Beyond graduation, Karissa wants to live in her own apartment, spend time with family and have a fun job. She also likes trying new things, and has played several sports, including basketball, volleyball, soccer and gymnastics.

"I just want to see what's out there for me, so I don't sit around watching TV as much,"she said.

There is no registration fee to participate in the walk. The walk is to promote awareness and raises money through sponsorships.

This is the second Buddy Walk for Bismarck-Mandan. The first Buddy Walk in the country started in 1995 in 17 cities. Now there are 275 walks from mid-August through November.