This past week was a little less conventional than the
others have been. I flew to Los Angeles
for the Campus MovieFest premier on Wednesday, missing three days of Boys and
Girls Club love this week. And on top of
that, I got suddenly very sick on Tuesday, so my participation with the kids
was minimal on the last day before I left.
Knowing that I was going to be gone for three days, Ish was
totally fine with me coming in early on Monday and Tuesday to get some extra
work done before the kids got out of school at 2:30. My plan was to come in extra early on Tuesday
and work with Sarah to organize their huge craft/supply room, because it
definitely needs attention. Organizing
it would take several hours at least and would make everything much more
accessible for crafts or club time, and it would also be able to give them a
much more accurate inventory. And
believe it or not, I was actually excited to do this job! I get a thrill from making things that look crappy
into nice, neat, masterpieces of organization.
Instead, I woke up by the need to vomit on Tuesday morning
and could barely even stand by the time I got to the club. I then spent my extra time that was supposed
to go towards organizing instead just resting and trying to feel better. Thankfully the entire staff was very
understanding and encouraged me to go home early so I could recover before my
flight the next morning. And more
thankfully, I felt much better the next day and was able to go on my trip
without any major issues. The pressure
change on the plane did lead to an ear infection for me though :(
I unfortunately spent very little time at the
Boys and Girls Club this week and even less time with the kids themselves, but
this week did really help me learn some important things. First of all, it showed me just how caring
and understanding the rest of the staff is that I’m working with, and I
couldn’t ask for anything better than that.
I’ve heard how miserable other Summer Service Scholars are just because
the people they work with do not get along or are just plain rude to them, and
this helps me appreciate the people I work with immensely. Secondly, I also learned how much sickness
can really affect an organization where I am needed regularly. If I got sick at Stetson, I would just take a
few days off from volunteering and maybe skip a class if I really needed to,
knowing that I could just catch up later.
But here, I’ve established myself as a regular, every day volunteer and
know that I am expected by the other staff members. This motivated me to actually go to the club
even though I was feeling awful because I didn’t want to disappoint my
co-workers. It was a very interesting
perspective considering the fact that I’m not an actual employee like the rest
of the staff, but I still have responsibilities and expectations from the staff
and kids. Sickness and vacation and all,
it was still a rewarding week!
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