All About Perspective

A wood chip. It’s dull, dirty, beige, and merely used to mulch playgrounds and flower beds. However, from the perspective of a preschooler, a wood chip is much more than a byproduct. In their eyes, a wood chip is a strawberry cake, an ice cream cone, and even a superhero!

After meeting our students and teachers in the classroom, we all buttoned our jackets and descended down the stairs for one of the most anticipated activities of the day – recess! Overcome by the feeling of freedom, the students screamed and scattered throughout the yard, hugging their friends, digging in the dirt, climbing the jungle gym, and running around to catch each other. The running, shouting, and climbing were all characteristic of my earliest memories of recess. After following the students into the yard, my teammates and I splintered off to meet the teachers and students, who we will be working with throughout the year. Without any hesitation, the kids told us their name and asked us if we could play a game with them, which varied from playing house to “duck, duck, goose” to tag.

For about two hours, we all got to know the student’s names, their favorite colors, their siblings’ names, and how old they were. As they were open with us about who they were, we also connected with them by telling them our name, where we are from, what our favorite color is, and of course, how old we are! Beyond conversation, we were able to connect with all the kids on a deeper level by playing games and running around. One object that was consistently found in every game and activity was a wood chip.  However, the wood chip would change its purpose from game to game. For example, the students would pretend that it was their baby when “playing house” or that it was an ice cream cone when playing “store” or that it was a strawberry when cooking a strawberry cake.

Before going outside for recess that day, I had not really thought about nor imagined what a wood chip could represent. Conversely, the preschoolers that I played with that day could conceive an endless list of objects or purposes found within something as simple as a wood chip. And this is exactly what I learned from the students that day: we must find purpose and beauty in everything. My team’s core value for the year is joy and this was precisely the quality that every preschooler exhibited when playing with the wood chips. Every student discovered happiness and allure in something as simple and disregarded as a tree byproduct.

Ever since that day, I try to find beauty and joy in all things and never to disregard something because society has labeled it as useless. As the school year continues, I look forward to continuing to work with my team’s students and also having students teach me their unique perspective, infused with hope, joy, and promise.

~Grant Conway

Corps member

Team Joy 2