Circle Urban Ministries Day Two

I enjoyed going to Circle Urban Ministries a second time!  I am glad that I went more than once because I feel like relationships are beginning to form.  I remembered a lot of their names, and it was nice to talk to them again. This time I had no fears going into it; I was only excited! I looked forward to it all week actually.

This time we made name acronyms where we all had to write an adjective for each letter of our name to describe us.  I learned a lot about the students this way! Some of the girls I was sitting by were having a lot of discussions about what to write, and what they couldn't write because it didn't fit them.  Some were shy, some were very outgoing, some were athletic and some hated sports! It was a good "get-to-know-you" activity. 

Later after some more team-building games, we split up into 7th and 8th graders again to work on their projects.  This week I went with the 7th graders. I am glad that I got to go with the 8th graders one week and the 7th graders another to get to know even more students! They are all so welcoming and willing to talk and work with us.  They were working on writing a research paper about the future career of their choice.  The girl I worked with really wanted to be a singer/dancer/actor.  She was very passionate about it, and it was so great to see. I loved talking with her and answering her questions about high school.  I learned that students are never to young to start talking about their passions and dreams.  

I am very thankful for this opportunity to go to Circle Urban.  I probably never would have gone on my own; and I am loved the experience!

Children's Urban Ministries Day One

 I had a great time at Circle Urban!  I have never been there before, and it was a lot of fun. I had a couple of feelings before going there.  At first I wasn't too excited to go because I head that Austin was a dangerous neighborhood and I didn't really feel like trekking through that part of town. However, we were very safe and it was such a nice, big place that I soon learned that that was an irrational fear.  Also, once we got there I was just a tad bit nervous at first because the kids seemed to have a lot of energy!  I wondered how we would get anything done if they had to be shushed the whole time.  However, it turned out that their energy was a really good thing.  We had a great time getting to know each other, and they were excited to have us there; as was I excited to be there.  

I loved getting to hear about their lives and what they were working on.  I worked with some of the 8th graders as they made collages about what they were passionate about, which lead into thinking about what they wanted to be when they were older.  They had a wide variety of professions such as fashion designer, oceanologist, professional sports player, and so on.  I worked with a second grade girl, who was there with her older sister.  She gave me a hug at the end and I felt sad to leave.  I asked her older sister if she had a good time and she said, "Yes I did! We were all nervous at first for you guys to come because we thought you'd be uptight, but you were very relaxed and cool!" I learned that everyone has initial fears about doing something new.  It is important to go outside of our comfort zones and do things we wouldn't normally do because it may turn out to be a great experience.  I am very excited to go back next week!