I’ve always been in love with children, their beaming smiles and excitement about all the little things us older people miss out on. I jumped at the chance to join Jumpstart after reading about it in a school announcement. Education and children, two things that have become a large part of my life in the past few years.
My favorite experiences about Jumpstart have been bonding with my teammates, who I think are the most entertaining people especially at 8:30 in the morning when my brain has not switched to On yet, and the partner children we work with every Tuesday and Friday. When I joined Jumpstart, I didn’t know anybody and was a little nervous about how the group chemistry would go. Turns out it is just the right mixture! I love my team and I love talking about the funny things we encounter during session, the jokes, the mishaps, and the darnest things the kids say. We are Team Kindness and I think this is suiting. To others, the jokes might not be funny or make sense, but to us it’s the littlest look that can set off laughter. Everyone is always there to help if we’re having trouble understanding how to read the core storybook, or if our center at Center Time is being overrun with small children. I know I can depend on my team.
The kids! How boring session would be without them. One of the most memorable times for me would be this past week when two of our Corps Team Members were missing, but not because my team members were gone, but because of the sides of their kids I got to see when they weren’t there. As I have come to learn, out partner children have become very attached to us in the short time we’ve been there. Proof being that I was out sick one day and my teammate told me that one of my partner children refused to listen to her read the story because I wasn’t there! It definitely brought a smile to my face. Well, this past session the partner children for my two teammates were divided among the rest of us, and I could tell they definitely were not as interested in me as they were in where their team member had gone that day. Usually I feel like the kids like to follow their team members to whichever center because they want to spend more time with them. So, this week when the kids had to choose a center based on what actually interested them, I got to interact more with some kids I don’t see as often. The reason this was so memorable was because I could definitely tell out of the two children in my center, one was much smaller and possibly younger than the next. The smaller child barely speaks and when he does, he must be the cutest and quietest mouse I’ve ever seen. I just wanted to mention this one moment that also brings me back to kindness, my team name. The older child knew that his friend was younger and more timid, and he took the time to help him with the toys he was playing with, reach things too high for him, and to say “please” and “thank you”, and “yes I want to play with you”. The reason this was the most memorable for me is because I realized that kindness does not come with experience and learning what is right and wrong and what people should do, but rather with emotions and that even at such a young age, these preschool children know kindness.
Jessica Wu
Corps Member
Team Kindness
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