Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Making An Impact



This year I have started teaching kindergarten every Wednesday afternoon. It is supposed to be an English class, but most of the time it ends up being a Chinglish class. When I was given this class, I wondered how I was going to be able to teach these kids when they can barely say my name in English. After my first week of teaching them, I questioned why I had volunteered to teach them. They were super naughty. Then it hit me....It must be really stressful for them to have to listen to someone speak a language that they don't understand. I know how it feels to have someone speaking Chinese, and me not understanding a word of what they are saying.

The second week I went back, and absolutely fell in love with the kids. I have been able to teach them that learning another language is fun. It has gotten to the point where it doesn't feel like I am teaching when I am with them. Last week I decided to teach them fruits and vegetables. After the lesson, I taught them the game "Hot Potato". We were all sitting in a big circle, and one of the students came in late. She walked through the middle of the circle and sat down right on my lap. This came as a huge surprise, because the children here never really do things like that. As soon as she sat down, she looked up at me and said, "老師,你是我的好朋友 (Teacher, you are my good friend)". It melted my heart. That comment confirmed that what I was doing was actually making an impact. 

I love the fact that they are learning English, but the most important part to me is that they feel loved. That sweet class of students has become the highlight of my week. Some days I can barely step foot into school before I hear them scream my name and tackle me with hugs. This has shown me that sometimes you don't realize when you are making an impact in someone’s life. Every moment of everyday is very important. You never know who is watching, or who will be touched by even just a smile.



~Crystal Rauszer

Crystal is from the state of Michigan. She has been serving in VOICE missions for three years. She has really enjoyed her time here in Taiwan. A few things she really enjoys doing are reading, writing, sports, horseback riding, camping, and spending time with
friends and family.

No comments:

Post a Comment