June 2010
14 posts
“I mean, I guess that’s the idea overall. Remember what you did and what you...”
– City Year: Next Steps - GOOD Education - GOOD (via michaelmessina) (via cityyear)
6 tags
Graduation... at last
My brother and I have had completely different educational experiences. School came really easy to me and honestly, I thoroughly enjoyed the classroom experience. Kyle struggled. He felt that he had to live up to the seemingly impossibly high bar I “set.”
It’s an interesting parallel because I spent the past year of my life working with City Year, (which as you probably know by...
USA! USA! USA!
GOOOOOAAAL!!!
Admittedly, this is the first time in my life I have actually paid attention to the World Cup. This usually shocks people since I’ve played soccer for nearly 20 years. I played all through school and all the way up till junior year of college. Playing soccer has always been a passion of mine, but watching it never really appealed to me… until this World Cup.
I...
5 tags
My corps year comes to an end
For the past 10 months of my life I have been serving the San Jose community. Today I graduate. As most of you know, I am continuing my service next year as a senior corps member. But it will never be the same.
A lot of my good friends are returning to the east coast (or London) and they will no longer be a part of my daily life. Even those who are staying in San Jose but working other places...
1 tag
4 tags
Saying farewell to my students
To wrap up the end of the year with the children I worked with, I wrote them each a letter. As I handed the letters out, it was the quietest I have pretty much ever heard them be.
It was cool to hear them read certain sentences out loud to each other and ask to read one another’s letters. One of the students said that she was going to keep the letter forever; and a lot of the other students...
3 tags
Graduation
One year ago, this student could barely speak in full sentences or write a paragraph in English. Yesterday, he gave a moving speech at his 8th grade graduation about his journey.
Moses was one of the only 8th grade students we had in our after school program. He attended nearly everyday and always had a smile on his face. He is one of the students who inspired me so much in my service this...
2 tags
Breathe in. Breathe out.
Unless you live or work with me, you probably wouldn’t realize that the last two weeks of my life have been incredibly difficult for me. That should probably explain why I haven’t been blogging or tweeting much. (I made a promise with myself to avoid social media when I am going through rough patches).
While the last couple weeks have, to put it plainly, sucked; I have walked away...
3 tags
Celebrating effort of students
After working at a middle school for the entire year where so much emphasis has been put on state testing and setting huge goals to improve reading levels, it has been awesome to see that the school is rewarding the kids for all of their hard work. Yesterday we had a talent show and a pool party, and it was one of my favorite days at this school.
Here are some photos of the day:
Break dance...
5 tags
Tutoring comes to an end
As part of my service with City Year, I had the opportunity to tutor two middle school autistic students in literacy. Using the Great Leaps program, we were able to improve both student’s reading levels by at least half a grade level! It has been a really great experience working with them both and I will miss both of them.
4 tags
What I've been reading
It was my New Year’s Resolution to give up television (except for Glee and Grey’s Anatomy) and spend my free time reading. I’ve always been a big reader, but this year I wanted to keep track of the books I read.
This is the first time in my life since I have been capable of reading that I haven’t had to read a ton of text books and periodicals for class so I have had a lot...
