july already????

Hey Friends!

I can't believe it's been summer for two months already! I miss you all like whoa and can't wait to come visit Chapel Hill in August before I head off for a little while...

It's been so nice to hear about everyone's summers. Mine started out pretty much the same- lots of reading, beaching, running errands, and a wonderful trip to Chapel Hill for a day and a half. Then work started and the whole pace of things kind of changed.

I'm teaching at a summer enrichment program with the Breakthrough Collaborative, which is a national program with a site in DC. I was assigned (against my will) to teach physics to rising eighth graders, but after the first day of orientation, when told to write a six-week plan for what I wanted to teach and how I was going to make kids excited about it, I realized that this was not going to work. I hate science. I've always hated science. So after stressing out about it a little, I worked up the courage to talk to my boss and tell him that I really was not okay with teaching physics. And it worked! I got switched to English and am much much happier.

This job has turned out to be much more intense than I thought it could be, but every day gets a little bit better. Okay- I'm not going to lie- I'm getting pretty worn out. Working from 7:30-6:30 and then coming home to do lesson plans for the next day is really really exhausting, and it's tough to have students who don't want to be there and don't have a problem showing it. I'm working really hard on coming up with lesson plans that keep the students engaged, and it's the best feeling in the world when something gets through. There is a girl in my class who had a really rough start last week and told me several times a day how much she hated me and the program. Yesterday she told me she wasn't ever coming back, but she showed up today and wrote this beautiful poem in my class that she was willing to stand up and read. It was definitely a bright spot in my week!

A lot of the kids read and write at about a third-grade level, and there is no information about possible learning disabilities or behavior problems. One girl shows up every day with glasses that are taped together in three places, and another little boy stopped coming because he got jumped on his way home and is too embarrassed to come back with his face all cut up. Never in my life have I had to truly fear for my physical safety, but gangs and guns and fights are on these kids' minds all the time. Every day, I come home exhausted, but I feel really lucky to be where I am and to have a chance to do a few tiny things that might give these kids a leg up. I just hope that I can earn their trust and find ways to show that I really do care about them.

Well, that's enough rambling for now. Sorry about this little novel I've written. Thanks for reading if you've gotten this far! I hope you all are staying safe and happy, and I can't wait to talk to you soon!

Love,
Kara