Upward bound

I've been a little busy, a lot stressed, and completely uninspired to write. However, I've just finished Upward Bound and am about to prepare for my kindergartners. 

When I initially heard of an opportunity to work with Upward Bound, I was only interested because it was a six week summer program that would allow me to leave my shitty day care job while ending in enough time for me to have a week of before I start my teaching job. I didn't care too much for high school aged kids. And I especially wasn't excited when I heard I would be the RA in the chemistry room. No high school student likes chemistry lol.
It was rough in that classroom. Not for me, but for the students. The professor taught the class like a college course and wasn't too keen on switching up his style. Through this specific experience, I saw something that completely changed my mind about high schoolers. These kids came together and advocated for their education. Yall know how high school is so cliquey so I was very amazed and touched at their unity over something they act like they don't care about. 

I ran two review sessions for the final...the way they came together to help each other pass was a thing of beauty. They nearly tripled their midterm scores in only 2 weeks(we had a rough start due to the learning styles of the students not agreeing with the teaching style of the professor). When I say I was amazed, its truly an understatement. And nobody cheated!!! lol

Getting to know them and understanding what love and affection looks like coming from them was a tremendous and educational experience. I feel like I gained more from them than I could ever have imagined. I'm convinced God placed this opportunity in my lap to open my eyes and show me that things aren't as hopeless as they seem. We definitely have work to do with these kids, but they care. I don't think people realize that. I definitely didn't. They are warriors. The back stories I heard were truly shocking and to see the resiliency in them at such a trying age blessed my spirit. 

It was a tough six weeks, swear I wanted to say eff it so many times but it was worth it. The memories I carry, are not the bad ones. These kids left their big ol foot prints all over my heart.

Rambling over.