I am finally now starting to remember some of these
names! I thought that this process was
going to be relatively simple and trivial compared to the overall impact I plan
to make while working at the Boys and Girls Club of Albany, but I’ve found that
names are an incredibly important first step.
Kids will call me out if I address them by the wrong name and after that
first time it’s scary to try to address them at all unless I am 100%
confident. And to add on to the 30+
names I am trying to learn as fast as possible, I am also rapidly trying to
learn the individual qualities of each kid and the personal things they share
with me. AND THEN there is also all of
the different counselors, which age group they work with, and what that age
group is called! It was Caleb’s birthday
last week, so he is now 7, and there are two Zaeer’s so one of them goes by his
last name: Higgins. There are three
Sonaya’s, and two of them are in the same age group, the Cruisers. The Cruisers are the oldest, followed by the
Cadets, the Voyagers and the Pathfinders, which are run by Scott, AJ, Lauren
and Porsha, in that order. Also on staff
are Abena, Sonya, Jay, Brendan, another Lauren, and our supervisor Ish. So many names and titles and groups, I feel
like I need to study with flashcards each night.
>>>>>Side note! Lauren is also the one who organized, cast
and directed the kids’ little production of Wizard of Oz! This production has been going on for months
and we got here in time to see it come together! Apparently it was tough to get the kids to
rehearse on their own time so only two numbers were ready for the show, but
Octavia (playing Dorothy) was fantastic and her family came with a bouquet of
flowers for her performance! Super
adorable, and I love that theatre is something that happens here. Ok, back on track now!<<<<<
However, despite the complexity of catching up with the other counselors in their understanding of everything, we have been welcomed very well! All of the other staff members are extremely nice and very willing to involve us in whatever activities they are doing with their kids. The kids are also very welcoming as well and seem to be extra interested in Sarah and me because we’re new. Some of them already seem to be getting attached to us and I am growing more attached too. I’ve always know that I liked working with kids, but our site is one of the only ones that has child-development as the main focus, and I think we got incredibly lucky. I’ve looked forward to going into the club every day because I know the staff will be happy and the kids will be excited and it creates such a wonderful work environment. I don’t constantly look at my watch wondering if it’s close to 6:00 PM yet, I just play basketball or do homework or eat snacks with the kids until they start getting picked up. And there is definitely a learning curve that I’ll have to work through for probably about another week, but I am enjoying myself much more than I would be gardening or doing office work every day like other Summer Service Scholars. I am definitely grateful and happy to have been placed where I am, and I only think it’ll get better as the school year comes to a close and summer camp begins!
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