Sunday, October 9, 2011

First Day at Service

As the first day of service got closer, I was filled with anticipation. Now that I knew what the building looked like, what neighborhood it was located in and where I would be tutoring for the rest of the year, all of my anxiety was focused on my learner. I was curious to find out what my learner would be like, how much he/she would know, and about his/her personal background. Being carsick on the ride there didn’t help my nerves either. Needless to say, I had butterflies in my stomach on the way to CFL.
When my classmates and I arrived, about half of the learners were sitting at the tables already. I couldn’t help but wonder which one of those women would be my learner. Mark greeted us as the rest of the learners arrived and he began reviewing everything we had learned at training. Some learners seemed quiet, but others’ excitement and motivation were apparent. He then called out the names of the tutors and learners who would be working together for the rest of the year.
Once I met my learner and the suspense was over we began to get to know each other. My learner is an African American woman with eight children and one on the way. She currently has a job but is looking to improve her reading, writing, and math skills so that she can find a better one. Her goal is to become a nurse. Immediately, I found this somewhat comforting because my mom is a nurse and I am very interested in the health care field. So, within minutes of meeting each other we already had some sort of bond.
Now came the hard part, we actually had to start teaching on the first day. I was particularly nervous because I had no idea about her past education. I doubted myself that I was not prepared and that my skills were not adequate. I feared being unable to give her the opportunity she fully deserves to become literate. It didn’t help that one of the first questions my learner asked me was if I had experience doing this. I shamefully admitted I had only tutored children before and that this would be new to me.
She proudly pulled out her GED books, as her long-term goal is to earn her GED. We began with some reading and writing basics and moved on to her weakness, fractions. While going through pages in the workbook, I realized she knows a lot, but we also have some things to work on. I found out she is very independent despite not having the best education. She is able to do a lot of things that I hadn’t expected and she is a very hard-working woman. I was inspired by her love for reading the Bible. Her religion is very important to her and I was very happy to hear she is able to enjoy the Bible despite not being the perfect reader.
My admiration for my learner only continued as she shared with me her goals. She has several goals for herself and her family and she told me about a wall in her home where she has her goals written down. These goals range from the next few months to the next several years where she hopes to move her family into a new house. I became more determined to give her my best every session and help her learn as much as possible. Although it is a little intimidating, I am proud to be able to help her achieve these goals and I hope that she gains more confidence in her abilities along the way. I hope that our bond only continues to grow because I am truly excited to be able to change her future and the future of her family.  

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