We love getting feedback and hearing stories from straight from the mouths of our wonderful volunteers. Krista is a mentor in our EXCEL Program™ and she shared with us part of why she loves volunteering.
Volunteering with EXCEL has been a nostalgic experience for me because I see so much of myself in the kids. I recall struggling with school right into my teens and having no idea how to deal with the terrifying things I would have to learn next. Building a child’s confidence in homework and reading skills improves their confidence and fosters excitement, rather than anxiety when they are faced with abstract learning. You can tell that moment when they grasp a new concept. You watch them feel great about being able to understand place-value, multiplication, or memorize three new words. There’s nothing like finally seeing belief in their eyes when they realize you mean it when you say: “you can be anything you want to when you grow up.”
It is our job as mentors to apply meaning to that statement and elevate it from rhetoric to reality. At EXCEL, we build on math, reading, and interpersonal skills, but we also expose students to new ideas about what a career looks like, and inspire students with our own excitement about our career paths. This is why I was so happy to have the opportunity to share my line of work as an Emergency Medical Technician with the EXCEL students this past December.
It is important to me to share insights about careers that elementary students may never have considered, and also to alleviate the stress and anxiety they may experience if they are under the care of a paramedic, police officer, or fire fighter. It is crucial to give them guidance and show them that all of these jobs they hear about are truly attainable by people who they know. And hopefully, it will be an experience they will come to draw upon when they are faced with self-doubt, fear, and confusion, just as we all were when we made the leap from “I could never do that” to “this is exactly what I want to do”.
If you are looking to make a positive difference in kids’ lives, I highly encourage you to consider becoming a volunteer! Click here to learn more about the EXCEL Program or here to read about the other volunteer opportunities.
