(no subject)
"Honey, by the age of 23 all you have to be is yourself".
-Reality Bites
I'm trying to live by that. Sometimes I feel like I haven't accomplished much of anything. Then I wonder -- Are my expectations too high? Am I comparing myself unrealistically to others? Or am I actually doing okay? Time will tell...
Today after my volunteering at the school, I met Brook's parents. She's a seven year old I'll be working with over the summer, combining speech practice with fun activities like Cosmic Adventures, swimming at the beach, playing in the park, etc. I'm really glad they are going along with this -- her teacher was skeptical because they're very reserved, private people. The conversation was pretty one-sided, but I can deal with that. The kids in the class I work with have such different lifestyles/experiences than my own. For one thing, the fact that they are in that class means they have relatively severe behavioural/learning/developmental issues. Today I found out that about seven out of the nine kids in that class live on the same street, notorious for being one of the worst streets in Ottawa. It makes me wonder what they are exposed to on a day to day basis. I'm scared to go near that street at night! (And even in the evening). Tracy, Tara and I ran, freaking out, to Tara's car because we thought we were going to be attacked! (granted, that was us being silly and overdramatic...)
Yesterday I looked into another type of volunteer activity which sounds really interesting and rewarding. It requires a six month commitment, which I *think* I can pull off, although things may get busy with school in September. You get matched with someone who has just recently arrived in Canada and act as their ESL tutor for a couple of hours a week. You meet in their home, so you get to see what their life is like as well. I'm really excited about doing this! I feel like I should have been doing volunteering throughout university -- I've had such positive experiences. I really like the kind of stuff that is interactive, and enables you to change people's lives.
Another thing I want to get into is yoga -- especially since Crystal makes it sound so appealing. I'll have to look into it. I want to pack this summer with as many new things as possible :)
-Reality Bites
I'm trying to live by that. Sometimes I feel like I haven't accomplished much of anything. Then I wonder -- Are my expectations too high? Am I comparing myself unrealistically to others? Or am I actually doing okay? Time will tell...
Today after my volunteering at the school, I met Brook's parents. She's a seven year old I'll be working with over the summer, combining speech practice with fun activities like Cosmic Adventures, swimming at the beach, playing in the park, etc. I'm really glad they are going along with this -- her teacher was skeptical because they're very reserved, private people. The conversation was pretty one-sided, but I can deal with that. The kids in the class I work with have such different lifestyles/experiences than my own. For one thing, the fact that they are in that class means they have relatively severe behavioural/learning/developmental issues. Today I found out that about seven out of the nine kids in that class live on the same street, notorious for being one of the worst streets in Ottawa. It makes me wonder what they are exposed to on a day to day basis. I'm scared to go near that street at night! (And even in the evening). Tracy, Tara and I ran, freaking out, to Tara's car because we thought we were going to be attacked! (granted, that was us being silly and overdramatic...)
Yesterday I looked into another type of volunteer activity which sounds really interesting and rewarding. It requires a six month commitment, which I *think* I can pull off, although things may get busy with school in September. You get matched with someone who has just recently arrived in Canada and act as their ESL tutor for a couple of hours a week. You meet in their home, so you get to see what their life is like as well. I'm really excited about doing this! I feel like I should have been doing volunteering throughout university -- I've had such positive experiences. I really like the kind of stuff that is interactive, and enables you to change people's lives.
Another thing I want to get into is yoga -- especially since Crystal makes it sound so appealing. I'll have to look into it. I want to pack this summer with as many new things as possible :)