I wish this week was filled with a motivational story like last week. I wish I could set the perfect scene to encapsulate the perfect week. I wish this week could have been better. However, I would not have changed a thing.

This week I learned a lot about myself as an individual and as a member of a team. After another week of summer camp at the King Arts Complex, the behavior issues with the campers reached a peak. Left and right campers were getting sent to the office for disrupting class or just not engaging. The staff also reached a peak in the level of frustration they felt trying to make camp as impactful as possible while having minimal resources. This week was the boiling point and dripping in emotional sweat, I went to the gallery and did something I rarely ever do: I shut down. After waking up at 5:45am every morning for 3 weeks and dedicating my entire day to working on sustainable solutions to the camp’s problems, I felt defeated and deflated. It wasn’t until the last hour of the last day of the week that I felt myself being refilled.

Friday was field trip day and we took the campers to COSI. My task for the day was to watch a five-year-old named William (alias). William had gotten into a fight less than an hour before we loaded the bus and needed his own personal chaperone for the duration of the day. A frequent “trouble-maker”, he rarely ever said anything but always managed to find trouble. Afraid that I would have a lot on my hands and not enough energy to keep up, I was not looking forward to the trip. To my surprise, William was the best company I’ve had in a long time. He ran from exhibit to exhibit and laughed and jumped and screamed and lived. He had never been to COSI but managed to make his way through the building like he owned the place. At the end of the day, I asked how his day was and he said “awesome!”

Looking into William’s eyes and seeing happiness and hope made me remember why I wanted to work in a nonprofit that interacted with kids. I want to be the medium between them and the knowledge that is not always accessible to them due to societal issues and discrimination. Seeing a little black boy laugh and express an unapologetic love for science and learning was enough to keep me grounded in my purpose. Next week, I will show the staff some of the research I’ve been doing on engaging students facing issues at home and have a discussion focused on boosting morale as we reach the halfway point of the Summer Camp. Below are pictures from COSI and from the discussion from Cyrus Birch, a cast member from Black Panther that visited the camp to talk to kids about choices.