Blog #3: Early Morning

Today a group of us went to the Rock Island High School for an early morning study session with them. The time we spent there was not long, about 7:45 to around 8:30 ish. Like always, I helped a girl on her math homework. I had forgotten how hard some of these problems were. Since we did not have much time I did not get to really talk to her about her story. I was curious to at least know her name and where she came from. It seemed that she was more interested in getting her assignment done than anything else. Good girl, homework is always better than chatting. Sarah helped one boy with his psychology and Liz read a book to one of her students. Liz is a very nice woman and it must take so much patients to work with these kids and I admire her for that.

I feel like I want to talk to these kids because I just really want to know their background. It's not just me being curious though I actually care about what happened to these kids. I was amazed to see how happy and cheery Flora was even after admitting that she had suffered in Africa. Suffered how? I am not sure but really that is none of my business. I find it inspiring how strong these kids are, especially since they are only about 14-16 years old. Some kids just have the heart of a fighter and I honestly wish I could be like them. I want to know more of them and see how strong they really are. A lot of empathy goes out to these kids as well as respect.

Now what? Well I suppose I will continue to go and just ask questions here and there about their lives. I am certainly willing to share aspects of my life with them if they so ask. That is only fair. I am curious to know what they would think about my life. They would probably think it sounded like the easiest thing in the world. I suppose what I get out of this experience is that you should always really try to understand people before making judgments. Understanding other people from different countries and the struggles they face could really help you to become a more well rounded individual. If you cannot communicate with people outside of your own culture, there is not much you will be able to do in this world.