When I first arrived at my internship it looked bland and
completely the opposite of my interpretation of what a school looks like. The
classrooms were more like single bedrooms and didn’t seem so bright and
inviting. On my first day honestly speaking I was not as excited as a few
people were. I was more nervous and all that went through my mind is what did I
get myself into. I am not going to say it was a good day or everything went
well. The truth is my first day was eye opening. For the first time I was able
to see what is the cold reality. City Mission didn’t have all the materials
needed to run a “perfect” school. What I have failed to see my whole life is
that it is not the school itself that makes it number one, but the students who
make it worth wild. My time at City Mission was priceless. They have opened up
to me as though I was of importance. One student told me they love when UConn
students intern at their school because we are willing to listen. So with that
I guess it is true, it only takes an ear to make a difference in someone’s
life.
The hardest
part of my time spent at City Mission was interventions. Interventions are when
a teacher pulls out one or two students and help them with their individual
struggles in school. For someone like me coming from America I thought they
would need help in subjects like algebra. I was in for a rude awakening
alright. Turns out my intervention was helping the sixth and seventh grade
students with reading. Not just any reading but at a k-2 reading level. It
broke my heart when I realized how far behind 13 and 14 year old kids are in
education. I wish I could have given them everything I knew as if sending a
text to another person. It didn’t matter that I couldn’t teach them everything.
What meant the world to me was that I taught them something that they would
remember. Sure I taught some of them to spell one through ten and how to add
and subtract. However, the lesson that meant the most for me to teach them was
that everyone is different and that it is okay. I told them how it took me more
time to understand information given to me but that didn’t matter. What will
always be more essential in life is not giving up.
I took part in
the dramatic arts class of the 11th grade. I fell in love with it.
That is the only time when the students can let go of all their emotions
bundled up waiting to explode and be let go. As they created dialogues and
monologues of their lives I could not help but feel their pain. How freely they
have become to share such personal information. I found that to be a big
difference from people in the states with people from South Africa. When I was
abroad, right away I noticed how unified the people are. They rely on each other
to gain back the strength they require to push through any hard times. The hope
they acquire astounds me because in townships I have visited where tin poverty
houses do exist, so does motivation, hope, inspiration and life.
The time I
spent in the internship has helped me grow as a person. I have learned to be
more appreciative of everything our schools provide for us. We have many
resources that we take for granted and may never even think to use in our time
being in school. To me I used to hate going to school but now I see how
important it really is. For the students at City Mission school is their
sanctuary, only hope, and in many cases their home
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