Leaving high
school, I thought that my days of having to wake up at the crack of dawn were
firmly behind me. My college schedule consisted of no class that started before
10:20 am and two days out of the week, my first class started at 2:35. This
changed when I started working for Jumpstart. Having never been a morning
person I was, at first, apprehensive about waking up at 7 in the morning to
work with preschoolers. Don't get me wrong, I love little kids. But as any
other college student will tell you, I also very much love my bed.
So on the
first day of session, I rather reluctantly dragged myself out of my bed just in
time to catch the shuttle to the Metro. Groggy, still half asleep, and annoyed
with myself for not waking up in time to get a cup of coffee, I rode the train
for an hour before arriving and entering the class room to work with my
students for the first time. Immediately, their energy was contagious. Here
were 26 small kids over come with excitement about the fun they were about to
have for the next hour and a half, and I was sad that I had to get out of bed
in the morning? From the moment I took out the name cards, my five kids were
all smiles and childish giggles. They got excited as they spelled their names
out loud to one another and noticed the letters that their names shared. When
we moved to circle time, two small hands reached for mine and I was told,
rather forcefully,
"You're gonna sit next to me today,"
How could I
possibly argue? When we finished singing 'Goodbye Jumpstart', three kids broke
out into loud heaving sobs at the realization that their time with us had come
to an end for the day. On the ride back to campus, I was amazed at how quickly
the kids had warmed up to us. I now look forward to waking up for Jumpstart.
Every session since the first has been full of smiles and excitement on the
part of my Jumpstart kids and I've found that this is a much better early
morning pick me up than a cup of coffee.
Cindy Valentin
Corps Member
Team Inspiration
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