I had several reasons why I was really looking forward to this BJM visit. First, it was a slower week than most (still busy, don’t be fooled, just less than usual), there was one day left until the weekend, Spring Break was the following week, and the Monday of this week had actually been my birthday. Two whole decades old…I can barely fathom how much time has passed since childhood, I swear it was just yesterday.

It had been a fairly great week and I was really excited to see the kids and the teachers. Imagine my surprise when it was just me, Mrs. Sarah, Mrs. Patel, and one little girl in the craft room!

There wasn’t much for any of us to do when there was only one child in the room with us– the other rooms were almost just as empty. So, having lots of left over paper from weeks previous and a plethora of markers, we spent most of the time drawing and coloring. When the little girl asked that I help her write out her name, our small talk suddenly turned into a conversation about cursive writing and how it was no longer being taught in schools. Mrs. Sarah and Mrs. Patel talked about their academic experiences, sharing their wisdom on the importance of writing in cursive, a very efficient form of handwriting. I also spoke on my experience with cursive, expressing that I had learned a little bit of it back home in Puerto Rico, spent a few weeks on it in school in the USA, and then was never taught anything about it again. I picked up cursive later on since I myself enjoyed writing in it, but since I hadn’t learned it properly and in a key development stage, my cursive is not entirely correct and I can’t write as fast as most people can.

My brother, on the other hand, began attending a Classical school when he was in Elementary school where he learned how to write in cursive properly and quickly as it was still a key component of their curriculum. His cursive is much prettier than mine and he, who is five years younger than I and has written a lot less than I have, can most certainly beat me in a timed writing race. My mom, who also learned cursive in school, has always believed that writing in cursive is better than writing in print. I didn’t really believe her until I myself did research and found that cursive is not only a more efficient writing form than print, but that it’s actually much better for brain development in the areas of thinking, language, and memory. We spent the rest of the afternoon talking about how much better it would be for cursive writing to be introduced to students in schools once again. Overhearing our conversation, almost as a sign, the little girl tapped on my arm and asked if I could show her how to write a few cursive letters and so, happily, I showed her how to write several letters in cursive until it was time for dismissal.

Though there weren’t many kids to enjoy and not much stuff to do, I enjoyed the stimulating conversation on improving education and being able to spend one on one time with the little girl and the teachers. Mrs. Patel and Mrs. Sarah sweetly wished me a very happy birthday and made me promise to come back to them well and rested. The wonderful Mrs. Stacy gave me a tight hug on my way out of the school, expressing how much she valued my presence in the Academic Plus Program. It was the perfect end to a pretty decent week and a great send-off home, I almost couldn’t wait to get back.