It’s 8 am on a Monday morning. Most people my start their days with going to Starbucks, reading the newspaper or with a long commute to the office. My days are not like this. In September 2010 my days started with coming to Roseland Elementary, being greeted by hugs and smiles from students, and then I would start with tutoring a first grader named Vicente. When we first met, Vicente started with a reading level of 1, and could barely read simple words like mat. After 7 months of hard work, lots of giggles and reading hundreds of books together Vicente graduated from tutoring with a level 16, which is where he needs to be for the beginning of second grade. Every week I tutor seven other students, just like Vicente, who are two, or even three grade levels behind in reading. I also help in our afterschool program where I assist in physical education activities and sometimes aid kids in their homework. Our program gives kids a positive atmosphere to come to, where they can be around positive role models and have fun in a learning environment. The students we serve may also have struggles that they face outside of school with their families. Many of them face poverty and pressure to join a gang. It is students like these that CalSERVES tutoring and after school program are so passionate about. Without our program many of the students that we serve may get lost in the shuffle of other students like them who struggle in so many areas. This program allows students to reach their true potential in the classroom and in their everyday life. It teaches them to be passionate about their education and about their community. Without programs like this many students would just give up, and turn to gangs or even drugs to find their sense of belonging. It teaches them that they can be positive, powerful individuals, and that they can make a difference and break the cycle of poverty and oppression.

It is a privilege for me to come to work everyday, and see these kids and to build meaningful relationships with them.  Even though these kids have deeper struggles than I could ever face, they have taught me how to live and how to have fun. They show me everyday that who I am matters to them, and that I can make difference everyday.