im backkkkk

so i am sitting in the chicago airport waiting for my delayed flight to ny to leave and i thought it would be a good idea to get all my thoughts about my site visit written before i forget!

i arrived in wisconsin on wednesday morning, spent some time with the current volunteers that are placed there, and then spent the afternoon at the site where i would be working in the fall.

the site is called john XXIII education center. the building that it is housed in used to be a middle school, but because of funding, was forced to shut down. after the school was shut down, many of the administrators and faculty involved decided that in order to stay connected with the students and continue to positively influence academics in the community, that the space should be converted into the after school center that it is now.

i will be working in the “library” of the center, where students can come to do homework, read, or play games. unfortunately, when the school was closed, everything that was originally housed in the building was sold. this means that there was NOTHING left to begin this education center with. so as you can imagine, the “library” is not what we are typically used to. there are only a few shelves of books, which have all been donated, so many are not in good condition.

most of the students who live in the community are latino and come from homes where they have little to no encouragement and support when it comes to academics. many parents of these students have to work multiple jobs to support their families, are involved in drugs or gangs, or have not even completed high school themselves. the students in this community have to be so self motivated and grown up at such a young age to be successful.

i worked with students on math, biology, and physics (yuck!) and then spent time playing with them after all their work was completed. it gave me some sort of hope to know that despite the adversity these student are faced with, they are still motivated to beat the odds. many of the high school students at the center talk about going to college and becoming professionals and many of the middle school students told me about how they were on honor roll or were working ahead in their classes to ensure their success.

On thursday, i went to lunch with the director of the center, shirley. she is probably one of the cutest old women i have ever encountered! she volunteers all of her time at the center and is the reason that the center has not closed down since it opened last fall. she has poured her efforts into writing grants to ensure that there is money to sustain the center for the community. she has had tons of experience in higher education and teaching and now devotes her time to running the center.

the great thing about the center is that it is so new. they are pretty much willing to let me do whatever I want (within reason of course!), which is awesome/scary/exciting all at the same time. because of this, i think i will be able to gain some really great experience in terms of public health and education. the work that i am going to be able to do at the center excites me and i think it will be a really good way for me to determine what i want to do in the next stage of my life.

the city and community of racine does not excite me, however. it is true that racine is not a farm, but it would be a stretch, in my mind at least, to call racine a city. the house where i will be living is connected to the education center. on one side of the house, there is a typical suburban neighborhood with nice homes and the lakefront. but on the other side of the house, the area is not so safe, run down, and struggling. this is where most of the students who come to the education center live.

i was reading a book that the 7th grade class from the middle school last year put together of stories and poems from their language arts class. it was amazing to me that content that the students were writing about. there were short stories about being initiated into gangs by being jumped, poems about parents being put into jail, and reflections about the loss of family members due to violence. and this is when i realized that although where i am living might not be somewhere i would choose on my own, i can do a lot of good here. these kids do not have any sort of guidance or support at home, get no encouragement, and have few good role models to look up to, and while i may not be the smartest or best role model in the world, what i can offer these students is much more than they already have. and it would be selfish of me to deny them that because i want to live in a big city.

so overall, i am happy. i know that i will be challenged by moving away from the city life that i am used to, but it will be worth it :)

t minus 7 hours

sooo it is 11:38 pm the night before i am leaving for wisconsin and i have yet to pack anything. instead i have decided that a blog entry is obviously way more important than gathering the belongings i will need in the next 72 hours.

everyone keeps asking me if i am nervous about visiting. and i keep saying that im not. and i dont think i am. i am definitely anxious about visiting and seeing racine, but i dont think nervous is the right word.

i am going to try and take pictures and update this so everyone knows what wisconsin is like! but now i must go pack...see you on friday :)

let the adventure begin...

i have booked a flight to wisconsin!

i will be visiting my new home/workplace/community may 26-28. i spoke with one of the brothers that i will be living with and he sounds like he is really great. he seemed like he is funny and i am excited to meet him.

and i am starting to (believe it or not) actually get excited about next year as well. i think that this will be a great experience for me and that i will be able to do a lot of great work in this community. i think a big part of my excitement is the idea of everything coming together and having a solid plan for the next year.

i cant wait to visit :)