"If your success is defined as being well adjusted to injustice and well adapted to indifference, then we don't want successful leaders. We want great leaders - who love the people enough and respect the people enough to be unbought, unbound, unafraid and unintimidated to tell the truth."
-Dr. Cornel WEst
Jumpstart
In writing this reflection, I cannot help but to be a little cliché (don’t say I didn’t warn you). I have spent two years volunteering in Room 2, and those two years have no doubt defined the beginning of my college career. Walking out of the preschool for the last time today was not easy; for having spent so many hours in that preschool, it began to feel like home – not the building, but the people.
When I decided to do Jumpstart, I was told that I had the opportunity to change a child’s life. Sounded just fine to me. After all, that’s what service is: making a difference in another’s life – giving back. And that’s what I set out to do. However, if I’m being completely honest, I probably did not actually change the lives of any of these children. They are all bright young children in their own rights. These children are at an age of knowledge explosion. Had I not been there, they would have learned from somebody else. So while I taught them a lot, it is hard to say how big the impact really. As they grow up, they will eventually forget about me – as much as I wish they wouldn’t.
Whatever the case may be, I know one thing for sure. Whether or not I actually changed a child’s life, these children definitely changed mine. Never have I had such an amazing opportunity to serve the community and actually feel like I was making a true difference. I grew in patience and in communication as I interacted with families of many diverse backgrounds. Though I don’t take credit for teaching these children to read or anything of the like, when my partner child told me she loved me, I knew that I did something right.
When I decided to do Jumpstart, I was told that I had the opportunity to change a child’s life. Sounded just fine to me. After all, that’s what service is: making a difference in another’s life – giving back. And that’s what I set out to do. However, if I’m being completely honest, I probably did not actually change the lives of any of these children. They are all bright young children in their own rights. These children are at an age of knowledge explosion. Had I not been there, they would have learned from somebody else. So while I taught them a lot, it is hard to say how big the impact really. As they grow up, they will eventually forget about me – as much as I wish they wouldn’t.
Whatever the case may be, I know one thing for sure. Whether or not I actually changed a child’s life, these children definitely changed mine. Never have I had such an amazing opportunity to serve the community and actually feel like I was making a true difference. I grew in patience and in communication as I interacted with families of many diverse backgrounds. Though I don’t take credit for teaching these children to read or anything of the like, when my partner child told me she loved me, I knew that I did something right.
pipeline project: environmental alternative spring break
During Winter Quarter of my junior year, I developed an environmental science curriculum for sixth graders on a team of three other UW undergraduates. We then implemented our lesson plans in Brewster, Washington during the week of our Spring Break.
I had previously only really worked with preschoolers in Jumpstart, so it was a valuable experience to be able to work with older kids. It was awesome to see that enthusiasm does indeed reach far beyond preschool. They were excited to even be able to just use the microscopes we had brought, which really made me appreciate all of the resources that had been available to me throughout my education. I hope that someday all children will be able to have these same learning opportunities available to them.
I had previously only really worked with preschoolers in Jumpstart, so it was a valuable experience to be able to work with older kids. It was awesome to see that enthusiasm does indeed reach far beyond preschool. They were excited to even be able to just use the microscopes we had brought, which really made me appreciate all of the resources that had been available to me throughout my education. I hope that someday all children will be able to have these same learning opportunities available to them.
Bryant elementary school science fair tutor
During Winter Quarter of my senior year, I spent my Fridays volunteering as a science fair mentor at Bryant Elementary School in Seattle. I worked with a group of five fourth and fifth graders to prepare their science fair project on the topic of properties of water, including density and solubility. I remember the day we did our experiment, and one of the girls in my group was running around the classroom with a test tube, telling her peers how awesome it was. It made my day to see how excited she was about science.