The End!

I came, I saw, I conquered. Actually, the end of my service learning wasn't that dramatic, but it did leave me quite sad. On my last day at Whitney, I probably did the most work I've done the entire time I was there. I helped at least 4 kids and for the first time, I already knew or learned their names. Now if I saw them, I could put names to faces. Why am I sad? Because that was my last day, so I wouldn't be able to put myself to that test. You can tell that this experience was a good one when I, the laziest person in the world, wish I could still participate. Whitney taught me so much and working there definitely humbled me. Some of the kids had such great personalities and I would have loved to see what they could do in life. All I can do is wish them all the best and hope that what I did these past few weeks could help them, even just a little bit, become successful.

Lucy

Lucy is the most curious little girl. Very talkative. Another volunteer was helping her with her math, but I couldn't help but observe her. She is very spunky and loves to talk through her work. She explains every step she goes through as if trying to explain it to someone who didn't know better. The way she works through her math problems is very... Different. But she always comes out with the right answer. I can't help but admire her enthusiasm. I dubbed her Lucy because she reminds me so much of Lucy from Charlie Brown. Kind of a know-it-all...

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Whitney, I bid thee farewell.

In the last week of my service learning, I must say, I'm sad. I truly enjoyed my weeks at Whitney. I've met a lot of great kids and people. I wouldn't trade this experience for the world. From what started out to be considered a burden turned out to be one of the greatest opportunities of my life. I'm sad that my time there is wearing down to its last day. But hopefully this experience will lead on to bigger opportunities. All I can do is express my appreciation towards my teacher for giving me this opportunity to begin with and my appreciation for the people whom I worked with. They are marvelous people. I can't stress enough the value of this opportunity. If anyone were to ask me about what service learning option they should choose, I would try my best to steer them toward Whitney. They won't regret it.

Nicholas

Today, I helped a young man out, we can call him Nicholas. I took up almost my entire hour and half helping out Nicholas. Why? Well, what started off as a productive string of addition problems turned into just glancing and guessing at word problems. An example would be, Which number has the greatest value? (24,27,32) Nicholas would just look at the problem and guess whichever number looked good to him. And every time, his guess was wrong. This upset me. Why was he just guessing? I mean, he wasn't even looking at the problem. Then I thought, he must not be getting help anywhere else. This made me slightly sad. I can't imagine what it would have been like to not get any help whatsoever. It must have been frustrating for him. So, after this occurred to me, I set aside my own frustration and helped him through his entire assignment. I hope that someone helps him out after I'm gone.

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Umm... What was the question again?

Remember when I said this should be easy because the school work is 6th grade level and below? I forgot that fractions were part of 6th grade math. Addition of mixed numbers. So there I was, trying to explain to this kid that you must change both mixed numbers to improper fractions, get a common denominator, and then add, but he doesn't understand... I wasn't even sure if I understood. Well, he didn't understand MY process. So I did the whole problem my way and he did it his way. We came out with the same answer. His process was just getting a common denominator then switching the mixed number to an improper fraction. You wouldn't think that this kind of volunteer work would challenge your own education, but it does. I realized just how much I don't remember. I can remember learning things, but I couldn't tell you what exactly I learned. Like, the difference between sedimentary and igneous rocks? Nope, don't remember. So, a word of advice, don't come in here thinking you'll know absolutely everything. Don't think you're smarter than a 5th grader, because chances are, you're not.

 The answer is... Give me about 10 minutes to remember how to do the problem and another 20 to actually find the answer...

The Staff

The staff that work in Lunch Buddies are truly awesome people. When I first began, I was nervous about how to treat the kids. It's one of those moments where you must be strict, but you don't want to come across as mean. The staff set a great example for me. In fact, the way they treat them is perfectly acceptable and, at times, almost comical. Some kids put up a fight when it comes to homework, but they treat the situation in a well mannered way. By watching them, I learned my own way of dealing with the kids.

Sally

There's this little girl, we'll say her name is Sally, she comes almost every time I'm there. Lunch Buddies is made for kids who don't finish their homework and also serves as a detention for kids who don't make the right decisions. But this girl, she comes in and makes little crafts for her family. As I talked to her, she told me about how whatever she was making was for a member of her family. She made a nice house, made out of construction paper, for her brother. She also made a card for her mom made out of hearts cut out of paper. Sally truly loves her family. So much that she sacrifices her lunch-time recess to make things for them. I know that most kids wouldn't ever do that. Recess is the greatest thing in the world. She is such a sweet girl and I'm glad I had the opportunity to talk to her and help her out with her projects.

Picture found at: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhljw4ugKOhYHRjpcOhxkb0BvoEQ881xNHOyUwg-pZG4GZGxs4Oh52VYUC36KXV2ayrQf4EFx7Vl9sBG875wuQyFiZaIKGI8B3e3DL_GMKupvTjmfxLSG7yGOMtmFuDpdC5fJ2dgkyeSIE/s1600/card3.jpg