Hey there. Ummm... so it's been a while. Sorry about that. I could use the excuse that life got busy, but that wouldn't be true. Yeah, so here we go...
Ugh! This is already starting to get difficult. I have so many cherished memories that choosing JUST ONE is not fun! But if I were to choose just one, it would have to be my last English class session. I mean all of them are a cherished memory, but the last one was very special.
Let me go back and explain. The main purpose of the trip was to help run an English camp. Everyone on the Florida team was divided up and given different jobs. My job was to teach an English class. I had 6 students in my class (Jan #1, Jan #2, Janja, Rene, Nejc, and Primož), 1 assistant (Bobby), and 1 translator (Karmen). We spent the entire week together doing English lessons in the morning and discussion groups in the evening. Throughout the week we were also working on a presentation to preform for the parents. On Saturday morning, we were to have one last lesson to prepare and practice our presentation. Before that lesson, I decided to do a little exercise with a ball of yarn. This is how it works: one person would hold on to the end of the yarn and throw the ball to someone in the room. The person who threw the ball would then give the person who caught the ball a compliment. Then the person who caught the ball would throw the ball to someone else (while holding on to the string). Then that person would receive a compliment from the person who threw it. We basically did this a few times around until it created a cool looking web. This moment was very special to me. At first, I was worried at how well this exercise would go over. I figured that my students would think it was stupid and would not want to participate. Boy, was I sorely mistaken. The things that were said in that room were the most well thought out, kind, encouraging, and meaningful compliments that anyone could ever hear. In that moment, I knew how important my job was at camp and was extremely thankful for it. The bonds that were formed that week are the kind that cannot be replicated. No one will understand the unity that we had in that room in that moment. And honestly, my words will never be able to describe what I felt (pride and joy are two words that come to mind, but even then, they aren't enough).
If you were in my class and you are reading this, thank you. You guys and gals are very special to me. :)
-Ashley
P.S. These pictures were taken with Bobby's iPod, so the quality of the pictures aren't that great.
No comments:
Post a Comment