Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Everybody can be great because anybody can serve.” This can’t be more true when it comes to my own experience of serving my community in San Jose. For the past two years I have been volunteering my Saturday mornings at a local Church in my neighborhood. I am a first grade teacher’s aide who helps with implementing Catholic teachings and assists in keeping things under control.
Starting my Saturday mornings with a group of around twenty precocious kids was definitely something to get used to. I arise at about 8:30 in the morning to make my way to St. Leo the Great Parish by 9:30. As I arrive, about 20 little first grade faces greet me as they sit anxiously behind the front pews. “Miss Jessica!” some yell out. I remind them to whisper which seems to be something quite foreign to them. Their angelic faces are rather deceiving.
A typical Saturday has its share of constant giggling, frequent restroom visits, and name calling. But I make sure to remind them of why they come each Saturday and the importance of making the most out of each class lesson. It’s incredibly rewarding when, after weeks of studying a prayer, almost each child can recite it by memory. Or when I ask them how their family’s doing and one kid says how his grandpa just died and the many prayers he’s been saying for him. I’m often amazed at the insight of such young minds.
Times of joy and grief in their lives are open and talked about each morning and I’ve become a person they can trust and confide in. I never imagined I would care about these kids as much as I do. They are like my little siblings who I love no matter how often they get on my nerves. I’ve become just dependent on them as they are on me.
One particular day that stands out to me was when one little girl talked to me after class about a problem she was having. She explained to me that two other girls in class weren’t her friends anymore. Apparently they had been ignoring her for awhile. I made sure to talk to the two girls the next class meeting and set things straight. It turned out to be a misunderstanding and they became friends in no time. It seemed like a trivial childhood issue but me just being there made a world of difference.
Over the past two years I’ve experienced great fulfillment and joy in giving just an hour a week to my community. The time is little but the reward is great. Kids are our future and the time invested in them is time well spent.