I love cats, I really do, but I have never handled them before, so volunteering with cats was a whole new experience. Yes, I had received training and yes, I went to orientation; however, the first week was still filled with excitement and a sprinkle of fear. It especially did not help when Fiona walked into my lap to rest, but then turned and bit me as fast as he came into my lap. Such a betrayal would often deter others, but, from then on, I felt as if I needed to conqueror the cats and play as much as I can with them.

The first day interacting with the cats was extremely enjoyable. At first, there were so many cats that I didn’t know who to visit with and for how long. Given that there are three or so volunteers that go at a time, we were able to split the cats pretty evenly, ensuring that everyone was able to interact.

I spent the majority of my time with a cat names “Half-Stache”. According to the sheet on his door, he had been found in the woods and was taken to the animal shelter. The fact that he was in the same wing as I was meant that he already been given vaccination and treated medically. At first, I wondered into his room and sat on the floor. He seemed apprehensive of me, so I got on my phone and chilled on the ground.

After a couple of minutes, he seemed to take an interest in what I thought was my phone. He wondered over and started headbutting my hand, at which point I realized that he was more interested in my hand than the screen. Whenever I held my hand out, he would rush over and headbutt it, which I would reward by petting him. I found this extremely entertaining.

It is always refreshing to come into BJM and be greeted by students from the last semesters.

Unfortunately, I had accidentally called one of the students by the name of another student, which they thought was hilarious and kept rambling on about how I “don’t know” any of them. It took quite a bit of time for them to settle down, especially since they were no longer getting any homework done cause this mistake was apparently very funny.

This Tuesday was our group’s first trip to SPCA.  The staff there was very welcoming and appreciative that we were there to volunteer, which was really nice.  Them being so friendly is definitely going to make our experience working there much more pleasant.  I was talking to someone at the front desk about possibly doing dog training on the side because I thought the dog wing volunteering was on Thursdays and that was why we couldn’t do it.  It turns out they take dog volunteers every day, so I was wondering if I could work in the dog wing instead of the cat wing.  I don’t dislike cats, but I am a huge dog person, so I would definitely enjoy working there a lot more if I could work in the dog wing.  They said the training was a little bit more specific, but I’m hoping if I do it on my own time I can just work in the dog wing from now on during my shifts.  They were fine with me doing that as long as I go through the proper training.

After a long day of classes, I was really excited to go play with some cats. When I got there, I first played with some kittens. One of the kittens really wanted to come outside and kept trying to climb around my arms and jump off. He was very cute and I felt bad that I couldn’t let him down. When I went into the cat wing, I visited each of the rooms. Some of the cats were aloof and others were very friendly and I enjoyed getting to know each of the cats. I eventually got to a room with three cats that were newer to the shelter. Expecting shy cats, I went into their room quietly and got low down on the floor so as not to intimidate them. I let them smell my hands and soon, Jeremiah, a black and white cat with beautiful green eyes, jumped down out of curiosity. He seemed very mischievous and reminded me of a cat I used to foster, who would get very hyper when I played fetch with him. Mike, an orange tabby that had been watching the whole time, also seemed intrigued and after petting him for a while, he came down to my lap. Petting him and playing with Jeremiah was very relaxing and I thought each of their personalities were unique. An afternoon at the shelter passed by quickly and I went back to campus much more awake than before.

After a long day of classes, my mind was still clouded with the thought of all of the upcoming assignments and exams I needed to prepare for as I walked over to Beverly J. Martin Elementary School. I was almost in a daze as I signed in and searched for Ms. Stacy when suddenly I felt someone tapping on my hand,  I turned around and was greeted by a second-grade student and she said, “Hi can I give you a hug?” Before I could answer, I felt her small arms around me and my entire heart felt warm. I found Ms. Stacy moments after and she explained to me the normal protocol I’d be following every week from thereon. As it was my first day, I was allowed to explore and wander between the Math and Science room and the art room- I decided to head over to the art room. 

In the art room, I met Ms. Sarah who was not only an incredibly kind person but an extremely wonderful teacher as all of the kids seemed to listen to her. Her dedication to her students was apparent in the way she looked after them, and the respect her students gave her was no different. She shared with me how interacting with her students was a big part of her life, as she came from a big family back home and this was the kind of interaction she cherished. I was not only in awe of her incredible story and spirit but learned a lot from her on my very first day there. The way she got through to so many of her students was not only by being kind but by respecting and caring for everyone around her in a manner that made everyone feel as if though their presence mattered, and the way in which they communicated even more so. 

To be frank I was nervous what to expect my first time visiting BJM elementary school and helping out in their after school program. Children are a lot of responsibility and getting them to participate in activities can be tough. However, the moment I walked into the Art Room I was welcomed by a bunch of curious children asking me who I am and bunch of other questions. This instantly reminded me of being around my younger sister, which helped ease up the nerves. This is where my friendship with a girl named Ella began as we worked on writing each others’ names repeatedly. This interaction showed me how patience is an important skill to have when working with children, since she kept on insisting I was writing her name wrong due to my different handwriting. Knowing that she wanted to be in control of what we did, I suggested she come up with a different thing to do. This led us to drawing, which helped us get out of the previous activity that seemed to be slightly frustrating her.

During my first week at BJM, I was assigned to monitoring and playing along with the children in the gym. Although I quickly realized that it would be implausible to have me race against 5-10-year-old children, I made many observations during my time there. It is generally accepted that children are very energetic, but I really saw this first hand. I was very surprised to see that after their full day of school they were able to yell, scream, and run around the gym for an entire hour. I also was quite surprised with the obstacle course they had concocted, which included climbing up a short wall, running full speed and climbing up another wall, swinging by a rope from one mat to another, and then running full speed to the start line and tagging their next teammate. I thought this worked quite well and showed how competitive, even the youngest of children, can be. The carefree attitude of a child is strangely refreshing and I look forward to getting to know some of these kids and their interests in the coming weeks.

Over Fall Break I went to BJM for the first time this semester. I had been looking forward to this visit for quite some time and, as always, it exceeded my expectations.

It was a beautiful day and I felt well rested– I was listening to the soft tunes of Simon and Garfunkel and, with a skip in my step, I took in the slow changing colors of the trees as a good sign. I was excited to see old friends and make new ones. I couldn’t wait to interact with the kids and hear about their summers. The first person I saw was Mrs. Stacy and after embracing me, making me feel like I had returned to a little bit of home, we sat down and chatted about our Summer breaks and about the A+ program. It was so nice to see her and absolutely wonderful to catch up and talk about my future volunteering and involvement in the program.

Sometimes we can’t tell how much something has affected us and how much we miss it until we’re removed from it for a period of time. Over the summer, I realized how much I missed not going to BJM on a biweekly period. I also realized how much I talked about the A+ program on a regular basis even when I wasn’t regularly attending or in Ithaca. I always knew that BJM had a special place in my heart and that A+ had made a significant impact on my journey here at Cornell University, but I didn’t realize just how much I would miss it until I was away from Ithaca this past summer.

Last week was my first week(since orientation) volunteering at Beverly J Martin Elementary School, in the A+ program. I had been assigned to the art room with Ms. Sarah.

Ms. Sarah is an incredibly kind women who has spent years caring for children in her own family as well as the families of others. I could see instantly how so many of the children loved Ms.Sarah. Some would run in and grab her in a hug, some made sure to say hello to her as they sprinted in the door. While the children ranged in age from 5 to about 7, every single one of them respected Ms. Sarah and understood her role as a caregiver. When ever a child misbehaved, Ms.Sarah could almost just look at them and make them correct their mistakes. She ran her classroom pretty freely, letting the children draw or play with toys however they wanted. As long as they were happy, Ms. Sarah was content to sit at the table and doodle while children rotated in and out of the seat next to her.

At about 20 minutes in, a parent came to pick up their child early from the program. It was a parent that Ms. Sarah had not met yet, as soon as she realized what happen she ran out the door tearing after the parent worried that someone had taken a child. This child wasn’t hers, or one who I later found out hadn’t been in the program for very long. But Ms. Sarah didn’t care she chased after that parent like she would for one of her own kids.

She told me that she thought once she left her home country, she would feel free to do something besides take care of people, but that was a long time ago and here she is taking care of children. I could see the passion she has for caring for kids, helping to raise them, and to make an incredible difference in their lives no matter how small.

Stepping into my first week at the SPCA of Tompkins County, I was excited, but a little unsure of myself. I haven’t had a cat in years, and while I love animals I’m not too sure about cat body language and interaction.

During training, we were instructed to interact with the kittens and FIV+ cats first. These were the cats most likely to catch diseases, so visiting them first ensures we aren’t spreading anything from other cats. After holding and talking to a kitten until she seemed to be becoming overstimulated, I headed back to check whether there were any FIV+ cats. To my surprise, there was a cat, Max, who had come in the day before. His recent arrival meant that there wasn’t much information available on him, so I wasn’t sure what to expect upon entering the room. He was initially sleeping, but when I stepped into the room he jumped up to meow at me. His tail stood straight up and he kept meowing at me, staring with huge eyes.

I immediately assumed he was angry that I was invading his space and decided to stand still and let him get used to me. He started rubbing against my legs and I quickly realized that he was asking for affection!

I petted and talked to Max for around 15 minutes, while he purred and rubbed his head against me. I think I will quickly learn how to read cat body language, but I don’t think I’ll adjust to how happy the cats make me! 

Max the Cat

During my first visit to BJM elementary school, I was assigned to the Media Room.

I thought I would be just helping kids with different types of medias of art. However, when I walked into the room, I met 3 students from Ithaca college and 5 pairs of eager eyes. The whiteboard read “Media Club: Podcasts.” I didn’t know what I was walking into, so I introduced myself to the 3 students. They were from Ithaca college and they were the heads of Media Club.

I waited and chatted with them and the couple of kids in the room. A few more kids came in to see what was going on, and they decided to start the club meeting. The topic was Podcasts and the goal of the club was to have the students make a couple podcasts by the end of the program. At first, I thought the topic was too complex for them, but I was really surprised when they were able to list examples and describe podcasts in detail. They thought podcasts were just about news, so they were pleasantly surprised with the idea that podcasts could be about anything.

We then gave the pencils and paper to write down their ideas. They were all very creative and some of them were really amusing. I remember one paper was just about Fortnite and Roblox, another one was about gossip and had “lol” “omg” “more omgs” written on it, and another one had rap battles as the topic and one example was Marie Curie vs Donald Trump rap battle. They then started to talk about politics, showing me just how much they are aware about the world outside of school and their friend groups.

This visit to BJM made me realize just how much these kids know about the world around them and their thought processes because of the conversations they had, the topics they came up with, and the enthusiasm they had with the podcast project. I am not sure if I am going back to the Media Room, but I look forward to listening to their final products.

My first volunteering experience at Beverly J. Martin Elementary School’s A+ Academy was enjoyable. Ms. Stacy asked me to help a boy named Ansan with his math homework. Ansan is an energetic and bright boy who approached me with a smile as well as waved his two sheets of homework and pencil at me. We sat down in front of the two tables in the classroom area. Ansan asked me how to solve a question that involved groups of numbers, so I told him to draw out the boxes and put dots in each box. He drew the boxes and counted the dots with excitement because he did not have to do complex calculations. 

We finished one sheet of homework, so we had another sheet of homework left. The first question asked to make an array of squares, and my mind went blank. I knew this was elementary school level math, but the wording of the question completely escaped from me. We asked Ms. Stacy and Ansan’s friend if they knew how to solve the question, and Ansan’s friend told us to draw the squares on the lines. My brain immediately connected the dots, so I explained to Ansan that he needed to draw five squares in each of the two lines. We eventually moved to a different table so that we can focus on finishing the homework. There was a question that had multiple parts, and two of them puzzled me because they involved understanding how columns and rows worked. I explained to Ansan that a vertical line is a column and a horizontal line is a row. The array had 16 squares and the question asked what number multiplied several times together resulted in the answer. It took me a few minutes and repeated reading for me to understand the question, but I explained how to solve it to Ansan. It looked like he had trouble understanding columns and rows, but he tried to understand what I was saying as he wrote down the answers. For one of the questions, I had to search up how to draw a tape diagram, and I learned that it was a long rectangle with multiple straight lines. I told Ansan the number of lines he needed to draw on the rectangle, and he quickly drew the lines out of excitement to finish his homework. Helping Ansan with his homework was a meaningful experience because it taught me how I can better engage students to focus and explain the correct answers to the homework. 

At my first volunteer shift with the cats at SPCA, I was not completely confident in what to do. When we arrived and signed in, I was not sure of where I was needed. This made me realize that there was going to be a learning curve, but the staff and other volunteers were really helpful in guiding us which I really appreciated.

When we began socializing with the cats in the cat wing, I still did not completely feel comfortable yet because I had never really interacted with cats before, so I was not entirely aware of/used to cat body language despite learning about it at orientation. The learning curve was kicking in again.

The first cats I played with were two shy black cats. When I entered the room, they appeared very wary. It seemed to me that these cats are not as inviting as the dogs as I was used to, but I decided that I wanted to devote more time to see if the cats would warm up to me. After spending the next 45 minutes trying to get the cats to interact with me and allow me to pet them, I was able pet one cat and get it to play with the toys. However, the other cat remained posted on its ledge and stared at me the whole time. Hopefully, as we continue coming back to volunteer, I’ll be able to get these cats to warm up to me more.

I also got to socialize another cat who seemed more open to play and petting. When I threw a mouse toy, he would be entertained and swipe at it. This cat also enjoyed getting pet in between playing with the toy and eating his food. Overall, he seemed to get comfortable with me very quickly which, in contrast to the other two cats, definitely emphasized the message that every cat is different.

After this first learning experience, I am excited to go back to the shelter to continue interacting these cats.

This post is in response to my BJM volunteering experience last week 10/3/19

Last week I got the opportunity to teach various third graders and fourth graders about simple mathematics concepts. To me these math concepts seemed elementary and very easy to understand. I was expected to teach one student, Jace, about the ones, tens, and hundred thousands places. At first I thought it was going to be very easy but soon to be a very difficult task. I was confused as to why he wouldn’t understand a concept that seemed so elementary to me and his fellow classmates, but I was determined to help.

What I learned from teaching him is that is is vital to tailor my teaching style to each and every student that I help. I constantly assumed that students learn and are expected to understand everything in a classroom setting, as we do in college. However, younger children need different teaching patterns, especially at such a young age, to be able to be successful. With Jace, I had to explain the numbers’ places in a more theory sense rather than a number sense, and he immediately understood it. I feel bad that I went into a volunteering area expecting everyone to learn the same, but after my first experience, I now know I need to alter my teaching style per student.

It was a true joy being able to see another student finally understand how to do a problem after struggling for a while. I have a greater sense of pride and purpose just by being able to help someone who is genuinely interested in learning more. I hope to see Jace today to see how far he as come along!

Thursday was my first day volunteering at BJM! It was very grounding to remind myself that there’s an entire city outside of Cornell (flourishing with non-college students!). It also saddened me, however, when the two kids who I tutored, mentioned that they are used to interacting with many different college students (from other volunteers for A+, or with Best Buddies). Since they encounter so many college students, it may be hard for them to form a deep connection with one. Even if they do form a connection, however, the college student eventually graduates and leaves Ithaca, severing their ties with their mentee(s). I am reminded that Ithaca is a college town, and that anyone living or growing up in Ithaca will be influenced by college in some way. Will they be encouraged to go to college? Would they be sick of Ithaca and want to go to another place? What qualms do Ithacans have against college students here? I want to be reminded that outside of the bubble of Cornell, there is a much bigger world with so many more opportunities.

This Wednesday, I had the opportunity to volunteer at BJM Elementary School for the first time. I was very excited to work with kids and get to know them better!

More specifically, I got to work with kids in the Arts Classroom. I was playing with two boys who were eagerly assembling train tracks when conflict arose. One kid wanted to test the train tracks by placing a train on the tracks while the other kid did not. I tried to resolve the conflict by telling the small boy who wanted to test the train tracks to build a new set of train track on the side. Taking my advice, the small boy created a new set of train tracks, but with no spare train tracks left, he started taking tracks from the other kid. This caused one of the kids to become angry and violent. Before I could try and calm the little boy down, a teacher came over and asked the angry boy what’s wrong? The boy just sat there angrily and refused to speak. However, the teacher reminded the angry little boy that she could not help him if he did not want to explain the situation. Finally, the little boy cooled off and calmly explained the situation.

After seeing the little boy and how the teacher handled the situation, I realized that being passive aggressive is never the right answer to resolving a problem. In fact, being passive aggressive hinders progression of a conflict. Moving forward,  I want to remember whenever a conflict arises, I want to respectfully confront my feelings.