It’s All Worth it in the End!

I’m nearing the end of Jumpstart, and I almost don’t want to stop. It seems like even through all the hard work, the time flew by so quickly. I can remember our first weekend of training just thinking ad asking myself what did I get into. I was also amazed at how structured the program is and I didn’t quite understand why Jumpstart wanted its corps members to think a certain way, act a certain way, and respond to children in a specific way. It wasn’t making any sense to me, but one thing I did know was that I was NOT quitting, I would stick it out till the end and try to give it my best.

Now looking back on this journey I have to take a deep breath and remember the times I would stay up till 6am in the morning prepping my center and going over core storybooks. I look back and almost want to shudder but instead I smile because the numerous hours I put into prepping my session was worth it when I see my children’s faces when session was over. I could see the joy and hope on their faces knowing that we would come back to them with more fun stuff!

I believe whole-heartedly that my children are aware Jumpstart is coming to an end, because they all seem extremely well behaved and they start saying things like I love you, or your hair looks nice, or just random things during session that I cant help but smile or laugh at. I think they either know its coming to an end, or we’ve just grown on each other in a way that I and my children are so comfortable with each other that I can understand them more and see who they really are, and the same for them. If the latter is the case then where we have grown on each other leaving is almost scary. But I will say that my site manager was right; at the end of Jumpstart you realized that you have started calling he Jumpstart kids “My Children” rather than “the kids”, and from that I know that they did grow on me and I come to terms with the fact that I’m leaving, but still cherish the times my children and I had together and help each other. All I know is that it’s all worth it in the end, and I wouldn’t mind doing it all over again!

~Osato Aibangbee
Corps members
Team Learning 1