I
can’t even begin to describe how much my life has been impacted by my wonderful
Jumpstart children. The thing is, I never wanted to be a teacher. I never saw
myself as a mentor, a leader, or motherly in any way. When you sign up for
Jumpstart, however, you don’t have a choice. You have acquired these
characteristics and you have to do it fast. I don’t mean this in a negative way
at all—I mean this in the most loving way possible. The children that I have
been lucky enough to work with are so trusting. After spending time with them
for only a short amount of time, they open up to you telling you about their
family, what they love, what they are afraid of, and giving you hugs. Its
because of this, that I instinctively had to become a good mentor, leader, and
role model—I couldn’t bear the idea of disappointing them. I hope that I had
the most positive impact on these children that I could possibly give. I know
that they did that much for me. Although I won’t be retuning next year, I’ve
left this program with nothing but positives. I’ve been taught countless
lessons of humility, patience, dedication and hard work. My view on education
has also been changed—I couldn’t believe how underprivileged some of the
children I worked with are. I know that I cannot do anything to change the
economic standards of their schools, but being aware of what goes on outside of
the middle-class bubble continues to inspire to engage in community service and
other volunteer projects wherever I go.
~Alexandra Mazzarisi
Corps member
Team Learning 1
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