Teen Talk
My Last Column
By Sarah Coe-Odess | August 18, 2011
In the school I attended from kindergarten through twelfth grade, community service was a vital part of our education. I helped feed homeless people in Memorial Park, officiated athletic competitions with the Special Olympics, and assisted in the refurbishing of a Head Start pre-school. These experiences enhanced my compassion and my understanding of the world around me and instilled a deep appreciation of the comparatively privileged life with which I was blessed.
This summer, for the first time since middle school, I did not have a fulltime paid job. Instead, I approached the public library and offered to launch a creative writing program for elementary school children. To my delight, they accepted my proposal and gave my writing workshop a place to meet, as well as publicity to attract participants.
Unlike my past volunteer experiences, I interacted with people in my community to whose lives I could more easily relate. I wasn’t painting a Head Start classroom or assembling a bag of food to give to a homeless person. I was teaching kids about protagonists and antagonists and explaining what makes a satisfying ending to a story. There were days when I worried that my preoccupations didn’t seem as important as feeding the hungry, but I rationalized that any volunteer could hand out a bag of food, whereas I was providing a service that was uniquely my own.
My students ranged in age from eight to twelve and burst into each class with an eager curiosity that inspired and filled me with joy. Over the weeks, I had the pleasure of watching them become more competent and confident young writers. One day after class, a Pakistani woman approached me and, with tears in her eyes, told me that only two years ago her children had not known a word of English. Now, she couldn’t believe they were writing stories in their second language. I knew I didn’t deserve the credit she was giving me, but it felt good nonetheless.
And this is what I tried to describe to my friends who couldn’t understand why I was devoting so much time and energy to a job without a paycheck. I tried to explain that it wasn’t just community service I was doing; I felt I was actually serving my community, and it gave me an increased sense of pride and belonging. In a way, it was similar to writing this column, Teen Talk, and working on Brentwood News. Both experiences made me feel more connected to the community I come from. As I prepare to leave for college, that feels unexpectedly reassuring.
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