Adjustment and Patience

Hello Everyone!

Today I am posed with a question:

What volunteer experiences or community experiences have I engaged in? What did you do? What did you learn? 

I'd like to begin by saying that my family is not the typical "community" type of family. My Dad is the person who works a lot, often working overtime on the weekend to bring in more income, and my mom would rather fulfill her time watching Netflix shows. My family has always been the ones to do what they can to survive and stay in our home. We also like comfort, we have always been the family to enjoy each other's company and live comfortably.

I myself have dived out into my local Appleton community. The one that really rings a bell is when I was a sophomore or junior in high school. I volunteered to go to an elementary school on a weekend and teach local children Spanish. We did a few fun activities and helped them with snack time. It was fun, I definitely don't regret that experience, but I did learn that Spanish was not my forte! Neither was teaching young, restless children. I give props to the teachers who teach 4-14 year-olds. They are a tough crowd!

This particular experience has taught me to adjust. Adjusting has always been something I had to get used to, especially after my grandmother passed away Spring 2012. My whole life I grew up next door to this woman and suddenly, she wasn't there anymore. Bringing me back to my point, adjusting in this particular situation aided me in helping these 20 - 30 students getting the most out of this Saturday that I could. Especially when they were cooped up in this small area for most of the day.

I also recall a second experience that started when I was in middle school. I went to a Kindergarten through eighth grade school, a Charter School to be more specific, and I was always one to volunteer myself for things. Most of the time, I often regretted signing myself up for these tasks, but other times it was quite enjoyable. This particular one or two incidents would be food service. 

My elementary/middle school is not a large school, there is one main lunch lady and she has to deal with the lunch numbers, etc. So to help her, the school enlists sixth through eighth grade help serving the younger minds. I was always eager to help the lunch lady because I had heard rumors about free lunch. I didn't just sign up for the free food (who doesn't love free food, though?!?), I signed up because I wanted to help out. I had always been one to help out in the best way I can even if I didn't have to.

From serving lunch once, twice, maybe five days a week, I learned to be patient. Little kids, especially five to six-year-old's are at the most unpredictable age. They don't know if they want green beans, they say they will and then continue pushing them around their plate until recess is called. Trust me, I've been there. It's happened to me.

A final thing I learned from this was that I just need to go with the flow. I can't control if I accidentally knock a can of peaches over with my elbow, it was in my way. We were in a cramped little space. There was about a foot and a half between the table and the wall. Not a lot of room. Anyway, I learned going with the flow is what more people should live by. Like today, I forgot my umbrella and it was raining buckets outside. I didn't sweat the small stuff. I just let myself get soaked as I walked the fifteen to twenty minute (very long) walk to my dorm.

mashable.com

To quote New Girl, yes, "Schmidt" happens. It's about going with the flow and not letting things affect my daily life style. I take this to heart, we can't just control everything that goes on every single day of our lives. Things go wrong. That's life.

I look forward to getting into the community more, I am excited to see what kinds of different people are out there and what I learn from this experience. The more I get out into the world, the more I learn. 

Until next time,
~Amanda