I remember the days when school started and I would prepare my best outfit the night before. I would have everything either laid out on my bed beside me or on my desk to make sure my outfit looked on point. I would have my binders, pencils, highlighters and all my school supplies packed in my bag, zipped up and ready to go for the morning before. This was a really big deal back then and it was always exciting time because back to school always meant it was that much closer to basketball season.
Doing these honor roll programs brought all the memories rushing back and also brought back the thought of how nervous, excited and anxious I was. I don’t think there was a year where I never felt any of those emotions before school. As I grew up, I learned how to control it alot better but back than my emotions were a huge mess. I had so many different scenarios playing in my head back then; would I make friends, will classes be hard, how will basketball season go and then the most common question of all, will everyone like?
Now, since I have grown, I understand now that people must accept you for who you are and if they don’t then it’s their loss, but back then everyone’s opinion meant the world to me. And with that, I know where todays kids thoughts are, on their first few days of school, cause it can be scary at times. Going into these schools and working with these Primary kids, gives me a reality check because back when I was in primary school, I did not have someone to give me some tips and tricks on how to succeed in school or keep me active and engaged to where I can express myself in different ways.
Kids can really benefit from this type of programs, especially when they are engaged and are asking a variety of questions and really trying to get themselves to learn new things. That’s why I don’t ever mind if they ask me silly questions about where i’m from or try and make jokes about it because that just means their showing interest in something. This interest can lead to many different things such as confidence, happiness and even more learning for them. It helps them to open up and relax and take the stress off of school which is always there for the first few weeks.
On top of that, although we may be overloaded with the schedule at times, just going into these schools and making a difference is rewarding in itself. Being able to see some of these kids get excited when you walk into the school gives you a sense of happiness that you can impact their lives positively with just your presence. I’ve only been dealing with them for less than 3 weeks and I can already tell that these programs are going to be something special.
