I’m starting to set into a routine here, and it’s nice. I still need to do a lot of work in terms of my village, but I feel like I’m slowly finding my place at my school. I have great ideas for next years projects brewing and I’ve been really taking the time to talk to as many different people at school as possible to get a holistic view. Soon I’m going to start doing more formal interviews with groups of students so I can gather what I can from what they want. It’s very important to me that I understand my school well before I solidify any plans or act or anything major. And there are plenty of small things to work on in the office this time of year as everything is winding down and students are writing their final exams.
The most exciting day of the past two weeks was surprisingly Halloween. Surprisingly because it isn’t a holiday that is celebrated here, so I figured it would be a pretty calm day. However, earlier in the week I discovered that the music teacher at my school used to ballroom dance. And not just dance, but compete, and win. I was excited to hear someone could lead, but I couldn’t believe how good it felt to practice again. I used to hate practicing, but spending 6 hours a week in the studio with my ballroom partner this past year was the best decision I could’ve made for myself. Putting on a cha-cha and suddenly realizing I could follow (nearly) perfectly someone who I had never danced before was thrilling. He had a routine already choreographed and spent a couple of days teaching it to me. When I stop dancing for a period of time I lose a part of myself, I was grateful to find it again.
Saturday there was a farewell event for the graduating music students, and their teacher asked me to dance a showcase with them since they had never seen him dance before. I spent the day helping out with their event. Everyone was on the soccer field in the morning, playing soccer and foot races and having a great time. After lunch we had a whole program which included performances from students, speeches, and of course our dance. It was so much fun. It was almost like being home with my ballroom family, and it made me miss them terribly. I love that no matter where I live, I always find performers to share the passion of the arts with.
At school I filled in for a few classes this week, enjoying meeting students and hoping that the mere 35 minutes I get with them in a class period will be helpful to them in someway. It’s encouraging that so many students seem to know me well enough to come talk to me between classes and on breaks. It gives me a lot to think about concerning my role at the school and how I want the students to view me: teacher, mentor, friend? At the moment I’m leaning the most towards mentor, resource, and collaborator. I already love working with them and getting to know them, and I know that feeling will only increase as I become more involved starting in January.
November is already seeming to slip by. My family has a large number of birthdays this month, and my brother’s always kicks off the start of the holiday season for me, ending around my birthday. I’m doing my best to send my love when I can, and to continue to reflect on my time here and everything that I do. Although there are many guidelines for what I should be doing, and there are many things that would constitute a successful service, I learned from my amazing Summer Youth Dialogues crew this past summer that, particularly when I work with youth, I must do everything with intention, and I need to surrender to the process rather than think about the product. When the days seem long and the weeks pass quickly, this is what I focus on. My intentions. I purpose. How I can help with the process. How not to focus too much on the product. Particularly when I have so much time left. PC is a mental game, more than anything, and I hope that I learn much from it.
Best,
Bethany
No comments:
Post a Comment