Assessment Journal #1

For my first visit at the Boys and Girls Club, I expected a bunch of little kids acting wild, and I was right but it was also much more complex than that. Since these energetic, rambunctious kids seemed too preoccupied playing to notice me even after Rodney, one of the counselors there, introduced me, I didn’t expect them to pay much attention to me. However, I was incredibly wrong because they took immediate interest in me. They asked me questions they talked about sports; it was like an overflow of attention. One child in particular stood out to me and his name was Seven. Before Rodney had even announced my name and right after I sat down, this kid says hello and asks me how I’m doing. When it was time to go out for Kickball, Seven looks at me with hopeful eyes and asks him if I would come play Kickball, and I was happy to oblige. Because of these few experiences, I realized that not only are these kids hyper, they are also polite, courteous, and friendly. There was another kid named Lyrics who politely asked me if I would make an arts and crafts toy for him. I am not particularly good at arts and crafts, so I felt worried he might not like whatever I made for him. After spending about ten minutes working with yarn and two Popsicle sticks, I had created a toy that I didn’t find all that impressive, but when he received it he was very thankful, and I could tell that he appreciated it. I look forward to continuing my service learning here and can’t wait to see what these children have in store for me.