Spring Break
The lessons that the Boys and Girls Club can teach us all
Joce DeWitt
Issue date: 11/6/09 Section: Forum
The lessons that the Boys and Girls Club can teach us all
There's nothing that can quite compare to the twinkle in a child's eye. I discovered this recently when I started volunteering at the Corvallis Boys and Girls Club a couple weeks ago. I saw it in almost every one of their expressions - that look.
It's the look that would keep kids giggling even in a whirlwind of misery. It's the look that keeps us bitter, crusty grown-ups from taking life too seriously. Before I walked into the Boys and Girls Club for the first time, I had forgotten that look.
As I made my way through the crowds of kids from one room to the next, I started to recognize a pattern. Every kid, whether they were sitting by themselves or running around with a herd of their friends, seemed to radiate an aura of bliss and well-being.
This proved to me one thing: They were all exactly where they were supposed to be.
As I got a better feel for the building (i.e. where the "little" gym is compared to the "big" gym and which study room is for which age group) it became obvious the excitement I felt was due to the fact that it brought me back to my own childhood days. Those sweet, distant days that have been swept further and further under the carpet of my memory.
As a little boy whizzed by me fighting an imaginary being of some sort (probably a dragon judging by the way he swung his sword really high above his head) another epitome hit me straight in the face: Lack of a child's sense of excitement and imagination is the root cause of many of the world's problems.
If what we see in a child reminds us of our younger, better, less regretful days, then why don't we spend more time learning from them than from a grumpy, gray-haired professor who rambles on about things we don't care about?
Every emotion a young child has is genuine - not posed, faked or forged in any way. To them, the world is at their very disposal. What it can't provide them, they create using the most effective weapon against boredom and monotony in the world today: the imagination. With it, kids conquer the world. Actually, at the Boys and Girls Club, world-conquering is a daily occurrence, and I see heroes and heroines waltz around with giant grins on their faces.
There's nothing that can quite compare to the twinkle in a child's eye. I discovered this recently when I started volunteering at the Corvallis Boys and Girls Club a couple weeks ago. I saw it in almost every one of their expressions - that look.
It's the look that would keep kids giggling even in a whirlwind of misery. It's the look that keeps us bitter, crusty grown-ups from taking life too seriously. Before I walked into the Boys and Girls Club for the first time, I had forgotten that look.
As I made my way through the crowds of kids from one room to the next, I started to recognize a pattern. Every kid, whether they were sitting by themselves or running around with a herd of their friends, seemed to radiate an aura of bliss and well-being.
This proved to me one thing: They were all exactly where they were supposed to be.
As I got a better feel for the building (i.e. where the "little" gym is compared to the "big" gym and which study room is for which age group) it became obvious the excitement I felt was due to the fact that it brought me back to my own childhood days. Those sweet, distant days that have been swept further and further under the carpet of my memory.
As a little boy whizzed by me fighting an imaginary being of some sort (probably a dragon judging by the way he swung his sword really high above his head) another epitome hit me straight in the face: Lack of a child's sense of excitement and imagination is the root cause of many of the world's problems.
If what we see in a child reminds us of our younger, better, less regretful days, then why don't we spend more time learning from them than from a grumpy, gray-haired professor who rambles on about things we don't care about?
Every emotion a young child has is genuine - not posed, faked or forged in any way. To them, the world is at their very disposal. What it can't provide them, they create using the most effective weapon against boredom and monotony in the world today: the imagination. With it, kids conquer the world. Actually, at the Boys and Girls Club, world-conquering is a daily occurrence, and I see heroes and heroines waltz around with giant grins on their faces.
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Helen HIggins
posted 11/06/09 @ 9:46 PM PST
Great article Joce - you captured several of the reasons that my staff and I get out of bed everyday - to change the lives of children in a positive way through the ordinary of just showing up and being present, and the extraordinary of being the place that strives to enhance the lives of every single member, every day! Thanks for taking the time to be a part of our mission, and for writing about it!
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