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Reflecting on ³Ô¹ÏÍø Hill Elementary

This program has been so rewarding and fulfilling for me. I look forward to being in the class with my kids everyday that I am not with them. Even just that sentence, "my kids", I feel so connected to these kids and want nothing but success for each and every one of them. The other day I took one of the kids to the book fair. He picked out a book he was excited to give his brother and a chest of erasers for himself. He didn't have enough money for both and didn't understand that. He said "but thats for my brother". It broke my heart watching, and I paid the difference. It brought me so much joy to help him. I was smiling the whole rest of the day, seriously.Ìý

This volunteering opportunity is really helping me to cement my own values and morals as a young adult. These kids have nothing extrinsic to offer me they simply need help and I am there to give it. I have been working on making sure the kids are kind to each other but also balancing the fact that I think some conflict is important. I am more and more trying to understand what makes them frustrated and how to work through that rather then trying to prevent it in the first place. Another thing I am trying to balance is making sure I am spending time with the quieter kids or kids that really need help but are afraid to ask for it. I am learning how to approach and offer help to those that are struggling. I am also using that as an opportunity to help the kids understand that sometimes other kids may need me more then them which is hard for them to understand.

I really can not begin to explain how beneficial this entire experience has been for me. As silly or cliche as it sounds I truly have learned just as much, if not more from the kids, as they have learned from me. I feel as though I have become substantially more empathetic and patient. I think working with these kids has also given me such a different perspective than I have had before. Some of these kids' families really struggle financially and there is something so innocent about how they talk about these struggles. There is a sense of such intense gratitude for what they have which is just so beautiful to see.Ìý

This is my first real experience working with kids and although I shouldn't have been surprised I still am so surprised that the things I feel like poison my mind have not yet affected them. Sometimes the kids will say something so simple and so obvious but I realize how if someone my age said the same thing it would be seen as so insightful or progressive. I really love all the kids I work with. I just want them to have nothing but success in their life. ÌýI would suggest to future students in this class to take it all in and try to notice how the kids think and feel. The only thing I would change about LING 1900 is that it was more time.Ìý