“Quadre”
I’ve always loved children, and I am under the impression that the feeling is mutual, especially in my work in the church nursery, mentor programs, summer camps, and a volunteer trip to an African orphanage this summer. I like kids, particularly younger ones, because they are straight-forward; unconcerned with things like status, appearance, and reality; and have the best senses of humor by accident. Quadre, a young boy I met while volunteering at a school, was no exception to those qualities, and he was especially unique for a few more. He had a knack for getting into trouble and was clearly the class clown, but unlike his peers, Quadre did not like me. Despite my best efforts to show him love and befriend him, he wasn’t having it. I felt like I was failing with …show more content…
The class was laughing hysterically and when I turned around I saw that Quadre had scaled the chain link fence and was now straddling the top of it, threatening to escape. I ran over, and tried to talk a very smug Quadre, “off the ledge”, so to speak. That didn’t work, so I had to pull him off the fence, and then kindly share that I did not think it was quite as comical as his peers did. Quadre further expressed his disapproval of me by throwing a glass of milk on me (twice), yelling obscenities at me in front of the class, and dumping his lunch on the floor just to watch me clean it up.
I didn’t know what I was doing wrong, but I knew I wanted to quit. During what I thought was going to be my last day, I learned that one of the teachers was going to be out the next week, so I decided to try once more to connect with Quadre. That extra week, my patience, persistence and kindness, payed off. Quadre, for whatever reason, let me in, and his resistant, rebellious ways made me cherish our new relationship that much
I’ve always loved children, and I am under the impression that the feeling is mutual, especially in my work in the church nursery, mentor programs, summer camps, and a volunteer trip to an African orphanage this summer. I like kids, particularly younger ones, because they are straight-forward; unconcerned with things like status, appearance, and reality; and have the best senses of humor by accident. Quadre, a young boy I met while volunteering at a school, was no exception to those qualities, and he was especially unique for a few more. He had a knack for getting into trouble and was clearly the class clown, but unlike his peers, Quadre did not like me. Despite my best efforts to show him love and befriend him, he wasn’t having it. I felt like I was failing with …show more content…
The class was laughing hysterically and when I turned around I saw that Quadre had scaled the chain link fence and was now straddling the top of it, threatening to escape. I ran over, and tried to talk a very smug Quadre, “off the ledge”, so to speak. That didn’t work, so I had to pull him off the fence, and then kindly share that I did not think it was quite as comical as his peers did. Quadre further expressed his disapproval of me by throwing a glass of milk on me (twice), yelling obscenities at me in front of the class, and dumping his lunch on the floor just to watch me clean it up.
I didn’t know what I was doing wrong, but I knew I wanted to quit. During what I thought was going to be my last day, I learned that one of the teachers was going to be out the next week, so I decided to try once more to connect with Quadre. That extra week, my patience, persistence and kindness, payed off. Quadre, for whatever reason, let me in, and his resistant, rebellious ways made me cherish our new relationship that much