Yesterday was my final day volunteering with the ninth grade students at the Barrio Logan College Institute (BLCI) and after seeing them grow throughout the last two months, I realized just how great these students really are. They taught me so much and I am truly going to miss them.
Participating in their workshops was an experience that I am so thankful I was able to experience because interacting with them during the workshops made my time with them that much more meaningful. From these workshops I learned a great deal about myself and the students. One of my favorite activities was our trip to Chicano Park because I was able to see a part of the Barrio Logan community with the people who make the community what it is. I had been to Chicano Park a few times prior, however this trip was special because the way in which the students interacted with the park helped me better understand why the park is so significant in the first place. It allowed me to see how the park and the community interact with each other. Another one of my favorite workshops was the financial literacy workshop because it was not only very informative, but also because it focused on a topic that I believe is not yet on the minds of many 14 year old students. This workshop made me realize how different these students are from all other freshmen in high school.
During yesterday’s final workshop, the high school specialist asked the students to share one thing they have learned during their first year in high school. Many of the students talked about how they learned to more effectively manage their time between school work and extracurriculars. After listening to all of the students experiences, I realized that they all do so much at such a young age. Their hard work and dedication is inspiring and encourages me to keep working hard. As a whole, I took a lot from my experience working with BLCI and I believe that every student who has even the slightest interest in working with a community organization should definitely go out and do so.
