A small piece.

I just finished working as a resident advisor/counselor for a summer program that aims to help high school kids get into college. They tend to come from low income families or families where nobody attended college before, and the actual program stays with them through the entire school year, as well as during the one month summer program.

I've had to wear many hats. Other than spending time with the kids during meals, events, and activities, I've taught two classes: yearbook/photoshop and improv. I feel like I've been a friend, mom, sister, grandmother, aunt, teacher, supervisor, official photographer (my Facebook album is intense, I am a bit proud), entertainer, etc. to these kids, and, overall, it's been pretty tough sometimes since, eventually, everything piles up. The job pretty much requires us to be on 24/7 from Sunday evenings to Friday afternoons, and it can be a bit exhausting. But, on the other hand, spending time with these kids makes the experience worth it. They are so smart and sweet and I'm really glad I got to meet them and be a part of their lives. I truly believe that they can do great things.

I feel that, growing up, I haven't really had anyone as a role model, and I wanted to try and be something like that for the kids. In a way, this is one of the things that keep me going because I want to do my best in life and accomplish things so that they could see that, for them as well, anything is possible. Because of that, I try to "dream big" and set goals that I can hopefully accomplish one day, like teach abroad for a year, or eventually get a Master's and maybe a PhD. If I could do it, there's no reason that they can't do it as well. Although I believe that they deserve the best, there's not much I can do for them. All I can do is give them my time and attention, and hopefully this helps.

I worked for the summer program last year as well and, when I came back this year, it was great to see just how much these kids have grown over such a period of time. Seeing their progress, spending time and having fun with them, as well as the fact that they seem to like me, often makes me think that, in my own way, I am making some sort of a difference. Despite so many awful things happening in the world, moments like that make me think that life is actually worth it.