Overwhelmed, Yet Blessed

 Just a few weeks ago I had my first art class for the children in the community. I had spent most of my time in the beginning of this internship preparing for this day. Words could not express the enthusiasm and anticipation I felt as the first day approached. I could not wait to see how everything was going to turn out. I had heard from a few parents how excited their children were to attend the class. But Abbey and Manny, my supervisors, had sweetly warned me not to worry if only a few students showed up the first day. In the past years the class average was about 10-15 kids. Naturally, I only prepared for about 15 kids at the most.

As the day arrived I was praying that at least 5 would show up, especially since I had 10 volunteers. Manny kindly reminded me throughout the day that the kids would show up and not to worry. The time finally came for the class to start. I had 10 eager volunteers staring at me, then at the door, then at me again. Panic was slowly starting to set in. As we waited patiently the kids started to trickle in one at a time. Then out of nowhere there was a line outside the door of the KCB Community Center. I had a total of 33 kids the first day of the art class, but I was only prepared for 15! The entire hour and half I was overwhelmed trying to make sure every kid knew what he/she was doing, talking to parents, and making sure all the kids were signed in. It must have had a frantic look on my face because Manny continuously reminded that the only thing that mattered was that the kids had a fun time. As I kept this in mind, I would step back, take a breath, and just watch as the kids colored with oil pastels with giant smiles on their faces. It was then that I realized that the feeling of being overwhelmed, stressed, and anxious was completely unnecessary but worth it to see the smiles and hear the laughter that surrounded me.

   

 Written by: Cori Aguayo