"Is it a real job? How much are they paying you?" she said. "It's volunteer work", I responded, "I will be tutoring and mentoring students, I will get a stipend". I left my mom speechless and probably lucky I didn't get punched. A recent college graduate with tons of student loan debt working as a tutor being paid less than minimum wage baffled her. However, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my degree but, I figured a year doing volunteer work would keep me engaged while making my decision. I stumbled upon the AmeriCorps program, City Year, applied and started in the fall of 2013. I served at an elementary school in South Los Angeles, not far from where I grew up, as a tutor and mentor for the next 10 months. It sounded fun and easy and part of it was but, it was also tiring, frustrating, and hard.
I sacrificed time to make an impact. My team and I had to report to school every day at 7:15 am and leave no earlier than 5:30 pm. We served 50 hours a week, from when school started to after the students got dismissed from out after school program. Our students enjoyed and cherished every moment we spent with them, whether reviewing basic multiplication or playing basketball. When I was not with my students, I was with my team planning for our students. I planned personal lesson plans, student council meetings, and community events. Every moment of my day I thought about the needs of someone else and how I could help. I enjoyed every minute of it.
Teamwork was also important. I served on a team of ten. A strong team as the foundation helped us serve the community better. We had to stand strong for our students and for each other. Of course, this took time and effort. During our after school program, my teammate, Hannah and I supervised a room of students together. Hannah was light-hearted and wore her emotions on her shelves. She cried in front of our students when she became frustrated with them. I was the polar opposite and more lax with our students. During the beginning of the year, Hannah and I ran into issues quickly because our leadership styles were different. We had to sit down and discuss our leadership dynamic. We came to a compromise on the disciplinary actions to use with our students and made a commitment to support each other especially through our rough days with students.
In the classroom, I advocated for my students. They became the reason I got up so early to come to school each day. I don't have any kids of my own, but as soon as I stepped on campus they were mine. I loved my students. I encouraged them to read aloud in class and they encouraged me to play kickball at recess. One student, Isaiah, loved to tell jokes and had an amazing imagination, but lacked discipline in the classroom. He was in the fifth grade, but reading and spelling at a second-grade level. At times through the year, I wondered how he made it to the fifth grade. His mother had four children under the age of 10 and she struggled to give him the attention he needed. It was a battle with him throughout the year, but I kept telling him he could do it, no matter what it was- fractions or reading a chapter book. I supported him. His teacher was not sure if he would make it fifth-grade graduation because she refused to promote him to middle school reading and writing at such a low-level. I promised Isiah, his mother, his teacher and I would work with him. I had bi-weekly progress meetings with his teacher to show his progress. I talked to his mother about the small and large victories during our tutoring sessions. I was extremely proud when he graduated in June of 2014. Not only did he graduate, but he also received an award for the most improved student in his class during graduation. He might have been one of my biggest stresses that year, but he taught me how to hold on, stand up, and advocate for what I believe in and that year it was him.
In retrospect, I loved the year I took to serve my community. It affected me in ways I never imagined. I gained knowledge that year that is applicable to several fields including law. As an attorney, I believe my clients will cherish someone who advocates on their behalf using every minute possible and understands that we work as a team.
