Boys and Girls Club November 11th

I came to the Boys and Girls Club this day thinking it might be my last. I had finished my hours by this time and was coming for more of a closing day. 

I started out playing four square with some of the earlier kids and found myself getting really into it. I then went to snack and had some great conversations with the kids. running high on energy I decided to play basketball with the kids, only to be followed by coloring and a game of Mancala. Before I knew it, it was dinner time. 

As I ate my delicious chili and told a girl she was much too young to be having a serious boyfriend, I realized that I was going to be really sad to leave this place. I looked back on my experiences there and realized that I hadn't done these kids justice. They deserved my best energy and I wasn't able to deliver. I realized I looked at going to the club as a chore, something I had to do to earn credit in class. In reality it should be volunteer work, and volunteers should always give their best. So I have decided to make up for my past laziness and continue volunteering at the Boys and Girls Club in Garden City. I am very excited as I have gotten to know a few of the kids and I cannot wait to spend more time with them! 

Boys and Girls Club November 4th

I walked into the Boys and Girls club this day with less enthusiasm then desired. I had a million other things on my mind, as I was leaving the next morning and still had a million other things to take care of. I tried to shove that aside as I began to talk to some kids playing bumper pool.
The bell rang for assembly and the kids were particularly rowdy. It took then forever and a half to be quiet, so we ended up spending much of our time sitting in that duct tape square. They were punished with 2 minutes of silence, and some kids were sent to the office. Eventually they were set free, and began to run about the gam room.
 I headed for the corner table where some kids were coloring and decided to join them. We all drew our dream houses and I found it rather therapeutic to sit and color. I talked to some kids about their day and we all exchanged dream houses.
Before I knew it a bell was ringing and kids started to leave. I asked a volunteer what was going on, and she said it was a holiday for the kids and that the club was closing early. It was a gift from God because, not only did I get to relax, but I was able to get an extra hour of time to take care of everything before my trip. needless to say it was another good day at the Boys and Girls Club.

Boys and Girls Club October 29th

I normally go every Thursday, but today I decided to volunteer on a Friday in order to help set up for the Halloween carnival. I walked into the gym to be greeted by a few other volunteers I knew and a cranky staff member in a rush. The other volunteers were putting up spiderwebs when the staff member walked up to me and asked if I could put dum dums into a small pumpkin.
I took a seat on the floor next to my fellow volunteers and began trying to poke the small lollipops into the pumpkin. It proved to be harder then it seemed because the lollipop sticks kept breaking. I eventually figured out a way to keep them from breaking while I kept the broken ones for myself.
We then worked together to put up streamers and set up booths, all the while I became increasingly more excited.
I remember loving school carnivals as a kid, and this was exactly like all the ones I had been to. It was very strange to work behind the scenes in creating the magic. There was also a haunted house, and I was brought back to days of spaghetti brains and grape eyeballs.
I had forgotten how much I missed all of this fun Halloween stuff. After I hit High School, the thought of Halloween brought the stress of choosing a cute costume and decided which party would be the coolest place to be seen. It was nice to be brought back to simpler days, where all you had to worry about was who you wanted to pretend to be and how much candy you got. I loved every minute of it, and had just as much fun watching the kids get so excited.

Boys and Girls Club October 28th

Excitement was in the air at the boys and girls club so close to Halloween. I spent most of snack discussing costume ideas and debating which monsters were really the coolest. I was rather tired due to another late night and early morning combo, but I still enjoyed all of the Halloween excitement.
I decided to go into the art room, where they were doing water color paintings of their costumes. I am not much of an artist, but I sat down next to a boy who was excited to talk to me and willing to share his paint. He started to paint his spiderman costume, as I began to paint my Peter Pan and we talked about different things. I heard about his recent move to Boise, and his older rebellious teen sister while I painted a pirate ship and remembered how stressful being a kid could be sometimes. The only difference is that when kids get stressed, they are able to push that aside and still have fun.
After our time in the art room was up, I head over to the teen center. I had never been in there and was actually quite nervous. The windows were tinted and all of the kids were almost my age and didn't want a fun older role model. So I grabbed another employee I had become friends with an dragged her in with me.   Inside there was a pool table, TV, and gaming system set up. Most of the teens were sitting around the TV watching a movie so I joined in and made some small talk. It was nice to relax before I had to go back to schoolwork.

Boys and Girls Club October 21st

I went to the Boys and Girls Club in a rather light hearted mood. I was much more talkative at snack, and joked around with the kids. At assembly I heard them say they were holding scatterball in the gym. Feeling rather energetic I decided to do that.
It was fun for a little while, but because I was not a regular staff member, or a big guy kids would feel good pegging, I didn't do much. I ran around and hung out with a group of younger kids that were playing. That ended shortly and I decided to take some time to hang out in the games room.
I always feel so loved in the game room, because there is always a kid begging you to play some game with them. I ended up playing mancala with the sweetest little girl. I started to talk to her about her day, and after some conversation she began to tell me about her dad. He had recently been sent to prion for drug abuse, and I found it interesting how open this small child was about such a difficult subject. I can only assume that she doesn't fully understand the severity of what is going on around her, so it doesn't effect her quite so much. Nonetheless my heart went out to this girl and I enjoyed playing mancala with her.
I finished more games and had some nice dinner conversations before finally going home.

Boys and Girls Club October 14th

On this particular thursday, I can remember being unbelievably tired. I had stayed up very late the night before, doing homework with a talkative study group, and then woke up early the next day for tennis class. I had been dreading service learning all day, but it ended up being a rather pleasant day.
I arrived feeling overwhelmed by the amount of kids jumping on me, but I was able to stay cheerful and fun with them.
After snack I noticed a lot of the kids were going to power hour t do their homework. A light bulb flashed over my head as I realized I could help the kids with homework. any of them didn't need much help, so I spent a lot of my time reading my favorite childhood books to the children their. It was incredibly relaxing and brought me back to blissful days.
I went to dinner feeling better about my experience and happy to talk to all the kids that came my way. I snuck some food off their plate (always jokingly of course, most of it they were done with) and left shortly after dinner. I really began to enjoy the time that I was spending at the club, and even look forward to it.

Boys and Girls Club October 7th

I went into the second day of service learning with a bit more confidence. Nonetheless it was still just as chaotic as the first day. I walked into the screaming, madness that is the Boys and Girls Club, took a deep breath, and dove in.
After spending some time talking with kids, the bell rang for snack. I waited in line with kids, having discussion about school and Miley Cyrus as I eyed the delicious graham crackers the kids were getting. I sat down with a particularly talkative group of kids and enjoyed listening to their views on school and their life at the moment. We then got up to go to assembly.
It didn't take the kids too long to get through assembly and soon enough I found myself playing air hockey. I happen to be a champion at air hockey, but I felt bad destroying this 8 year old girl, so I mainly kept my piece still, with the occasional goal. I then moved on to fooseball, where I did not have to pretend to be bad.
Before I knew it, my time was up and my ride was leaving. Although I was tired I found myself pleased with the day. I had fun just playing games and being a kid, even if it as only for 3 hours.

First Day at the Boys and Girls Club

After trying and failing to figure out the bus schedule and route, I eventually found a ride to the Boys and Girls Club Thursday September 30th. I honestly didn't know what to expect.
As I walked in the smell of play-dough hit me as I had to step out of the way of some running kids. Someone helped me figure out how to sign in and I asked Selena at the front desk what I was supposed to do. She didn't give me any clear directions, but just said to go hang out with the kids.
Feeling awkward and out of place, I walked into the game room where all of the kids were. Not wasting any time I sat down with a couple kids and asked what they were playing. Not long after I started talking to them, someone blew a whistle and all the kids got on the ground before they were dismissed for snack.
I spent the rest of my time hanging out with the kids, playing scatterball, basketball and mancala. Before I knew it, it was 7:00 and time to go. I said some goodbyes to some of the kids and headed back home, not realizing how tired all that had made me.
I think the most interesting thing for me, was that being there brought back so many memories. Even though I had never been to a Boys and Girls Club, I used to go to daycare after school, and I remember it all. I remember lining up for snack and never having enough. I remember having so many activities to choose from and always going where my best friend was going. I remember trying to hang out with the workers because they were older and so much cooler. I also remember that my dad was supposed to pick me up at 4:30, and every day, at 4:30 on the dot I would stare at the clock and wait for his car to pull up. Every minute after that time going slower, as I wondered why in the world he would be late. It didn't occur to me that he hit traffic, or that he got caught up at work, all I knew was that he wasn't there when he said he would be.
As I saw the same thing happening with these kids, it brought me back and made me empathize with them, because everyone knows the feeling of anticipation, and it can be heartbreaking if you are let down without understanding. So I hope to take their minds off things a little, and hopefully help them understand, as best they can, that we are all human.

Orientation

After going to orientation I am very excited for the Boys and Girls Club! It seems like I will get to spend a lot of time with the kids and get to play some fun games! I will be working on Tuesdays which is my less busy school day, so I'm hoping it works out!
I signed up to help with sports, which should be very fun! I have never really coached anything except volleyball, and my other sport in high school was rowing (which they do not have). I think i will be helping out with basketball, which I haven't played for a while, but I am so excited to see how it turns out!
My main concerns are transportation and time. I dot have a car and i know the bus stops running at 6, which is when I leave, so I'm not sure how it will work! Also I am a little nervous about missing any days. I don't normally have to, but I have my days, a the lady at orientation seemed very strict on missing days. I understand why; nobody likes seeing these kids disappointed, but it was a little unnerving!
Nonetheless I can't wait to start!