There was a point and time when I thought I’d like to be a teacher. To say I love being around little ones in an understatement, however, after two years of teaching first grade Sunday school in college with my roommate (and teacher extraordinaire), we started the third year and I asked if we should set goals and objectives for the class. It was then I realized teaching wasn’t quite my calling. I opted to continue down my path towards marketing. However, whenever an opportunity arises to spend time at the kids table, I’m happy to jump on it.
Engauge volunteers with a group called Everybody Wins here in Atlanta. The premise is simple, read to an elementary school student once per week over lunch. Today, I started my third year in the program with a new mentee.
As we picked out books, a friend of hers came by and said “See, I told you it would happen!” we picked out a book, sat down and another friend came by to give her a hug and tell her how excited she was that she finally had a mentor. I asked her why they were so excited and she shared that she had been waiting to be able to join Everybody Wins for several months and that they were so happy that her waiting paid off.
Just hearing that made my day and my hour more than worth it.
Can you imagine if we all went through our days sharing the spirit and support those fourth graders shared with each other? What if we spent our time building each other up instead of complaining or trying to one up one another?
I think those 10-year-olds are on to something.
PS: If you have an hour on your hands each week, check out Everybody Wins. They have schools across the city and are always in need of new readers.