Personal Narrative: My Volunteering Experience

When I had first volunteered at a preparatory school as a teacher’s assistant, I was thrilled and excited. I enjoyed working with children and I admit, was slightly disillusioned with expectations that the children would be dutiful and effortless to watch over. Unfortunately, all my prior imaginations crashed the second I entered the classroom. Everywhere I saw, it was pure chaos. I dodged a flying crayon as I saw children running around throwing paper airplanes, balls, while others just stared at their iPads, focused on the latest game. Not a single one of them even listened to me or glanced at me as I tried to yell over the loud chatter.
Although my first impression of these children had not been quite the brightest, one memorable incident would instill in me a lesson that I would never forget. After 2 weeks into working, I found that one of the children, Jasper had been consistently
I learned to see the other side of these children the more I interacted with them. I watched their jubilant, excited faces as they turned the pages to see the next story and stared at the pictures. I laughed with them at their small successes, overjoyed that I had been a part of helping them develop and mature. It was amusing, watching them as they would stumble over a math problem, but when they finally understood, would look up at me with glowing faces. Their insatiable love of learning, intellectual curiosity, and enthusiasm during reading time has inspired and motivated me to try new ventures with optimism. Jasper especially has taught me the power that comes from learning to understand a person no matter how irritating or intimidating he/she may be. If we can only be willing to open our heart and mind and listen, our small acts can do indeed do great deeds; so that these children may grow up to be people who will one day be able to change society as I hope to do so in the