These past few weeks instead of doing normal tutoring we have been doing some fun activities for the kids. Since here in Guatemala they are done with school, we had a little graduation for them. Which was when I got assigned to work with the preschoolers. They are a group full of energy, the group is mainly girls and there are about 10 boys and I always tend to hang around the boys. They need to have that extra attention.
Those boys are full of so much energy and I truly don’t understand how they move so fast. There is this one kid that literally runs away from the group and then I chase after him. I will see that he is about to run and I’ll go towards him but then he just takes off because he sees it as a game. I have chased him across the field. The thing about this is that every time he does it, it makes me think why did I get assigned peppa? (which is what preschool is called) But then when getting to see the smiles and the laughs I get when I play with them is what makes this all worth it.
I have been painted on and colored on by multiple kids, I have had my hair braided by the girls and having five little girls pulling your hair in all kinds of directions isn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I’ll be honest I thought that it was kind of relaxing.
Now onto what this blog is really about, I felt like I should give a little background.
Teaching has always scared me because I always that that I would be the worst teacher, because I’m not the smartest fish out of the sea but what I have realized is that yes it does take a lot of work but loving on the kids is something that is just as good.
About a week or 2 ago I had someone come up to and tell me that I would be a good teacher. Now that wouldn’t of really bothered me but I have kinda been told this my whole life by a few family members. But when someone you have only really known for a short amount of time comes up to you and tells you that you would be a good teacher. The only thing that went through my mind at first is oh my goodness if this is something that the Lord is trying to tell me. Then I’m about to be in for a wild ride because this is kinda like the one job in the world that I really don’t want to do anymore.
So when I thought about it some more I was thinking well “Okay maybe this be something that I should really consider” There was a time where I was really thinking about it. I didn’t think I would be a good teacher because I was not the best student and I didn’t get the best grades in school. I could only teach like 2 subjects and that is Gym class and maybe like a foods class because those aren’t very hard teach and schooling for those aren’t that long. I went and job shadowed one of my middle school teachers, and I also started to look at what kind of colleges were good for teaching.
This led to me to actually start to think about what would my future like if I went into teaching?
I kept on thinking I don’t want to stuck in classroom type of setting. A classroom type of setting is one of the reasons that I actually really hated school to begin with. But I also have always wanted to work with kids who have special needs. Which is when I got to thinking of a few different options, these are still obviously not what I am planning on doing after the race or anything.
They are just possibilities.
I have thought about coming back to Guatemala and working with Kids in orphanages weather that were to be in a special needs orphanage or not. I have thought a little about possibly being a teacher in the states, but that actually terrifies me. The reason for that is because kids in the states are a lot harder to handle. I have done VBS multiple times at my church and that always stressed me out because there was so much going and I know it wouldn’t be like that, but that is all I can imagine.
I know that if I was to become a teacher one day that it would be for younger kids because although it is stressful the love that those kids give you is all worth it. I have also really enjoyed these past few weeks working with younger kids and that just really sparked something in me that I didn’t know was there.
Just getting to build that relationship with the kids is what makes it worth it. I’ll be honest I only really know the names of the preppa kids but that is what building a relationship with kids is all about.
I have enjoyed getting to really know one group of kids and getting to have bond with them. There are a lot of them but if you can remember the names of the kids I feel like that shows them that you do actually care for them.
I have been able to build that relationship with them for the past 3 weeks and it is the absolute best thing ever. I have loved every minute of it even if they tire me out. The goodbye that I will have to say to them soon is gonna be one of the hardest goodbyes but something that I have been learning is that they don’t have to remember my name but I just want them to remember how loved they are.
