O'Bryant Writers Room Reflection

My time at the Writer's Room has been mixed bag. I'm going to be honest it's pretty brutal to have to drag myself over to tutoring for 2 straight hours on a Tuesday when I have that whole day free. It kind of breaks up my day. And sometimes there are free periods and there's not much to help with so it can be very slow and boring. But I would say it is worth it in the end. I have had some really awesome conversations with a lot of super bright kids. I have helped students structure and edit their essays and feel like I have definitely made a difference in one way or another. It feels good to have an activity that you do every week ghat actually makes a difference in other peoples lives. It has also been pretty eye opening to see what school is like for high schoolers in Boston. I come from a really wealthy and well funded public high school, so my experience is far more privileged than any of these kids. I teach health at O'Bryant every Thursday too, so I get to see some of the same students each week. I feel like I have a better understanding of kids who attend public high school here now. In my high school, everything was clean, classrooms were quiet, and all my peers were super focused and competitive. I can see why it would be hard to succeed academically in a poorly funded school in Boston. The bathrooms are dirty, there are tons of kids in each classroom, people goof off in class, and I can just see why it would be way harder to focus on school with so many distractions. It is nice to work with these students cause they are all really smart and bright, but they just aren't given as many resources and an environment that promotes as much learning. Of course it is easier to succeed when everyone else around you is competing with you, and you have tutoring and resources out the wazoo. I understand my privilege but actually going into this high school and interacting with the students is a great experience that just makes me realize how wildly different my school environment was growing up. When everyone around you is focused and trying to help you succeed, you get a lot more confidence and support and you are way more likely to go to college and be successful. I am not saying thee teachers/students at O'Bryant aren't trying to be successful, but there are so many more obstacles in the way that I had. I think that even if people didn't particularly like tutoring itself, it is still an important experience to interact with students in the community who have so much potential and can benefit from someone older coming in and encouraging them.