Blog Post 7

After my last time at EMK, I was a bit nervous going into today because I was afraid I wouldn't be helpful enough. However, my experience today was completely different than the last time and it helped me realize not all the students may need help or want help all the time and that's okay. I worked with a very focused and hard-working girl and at first she was hesitant to ask for help so I kind of just sat trying to keep myself busy with twisting a pen in my hands. Every once in a while I would ask how she was doing and let her know that I was there to help in any way. For the first thirty minutes she worked silently and diligently. I am always stuck not knowing what to do in these instances because I know if it were me being seated with a tutor it would be weird having them just sit there staring off and awaiting me to say something. So today I decided to keep myself busy by grabbing a pen and drawing in hopes that it would make her more comfortable but would not give her the impression that I am cut off or not open to helping when she needs it. For her specifically this seemed to work because she seemed visibly more at ease and started to bring certain things in her writing to my attention or ask for input on what she can do to improve the essay she was working on. I know, however, this isn't the case for everyone but it just gave me a little insight on empathizing and looking at this from their eyes. I was very glad to be able to help and it also helped me feel more comfortable with my role. I think in the beginning I felt like I had to be doing something or helping at all times in order to be an active volunteer, however, now I know that sometimes taking a step back and maybe pretending to focus on something other than them, even if it is aimless doodling, gives them the chance to have their space while knowing we are there for them when they need it. I also think that when they show you their initial thoughts on paper it gives insight into their reading and writing styles which can kind of help us when it comes to voicing our advice. 

The main difficulty I faced today was giving suggestions without altering her writing voice or thoughts in any way. She had a great grasp of the prompt and what she wanted to say, but putting those thoughts on paper was the part that she needed help with. It was hard to formulate my opinions of what she should do and give advice because I didn't want to impact her tone. I noticed that if I said something she would write my words down wherever even if it didn't match with the topic she was writing. So instead of giving her statements I started asking questions about what her thoughts and why she wrote certain things. She had great responses to all of my questions and I knew if she just put those verbal ideas that she had explained to me, on the paper it would be great. 

Overall I am very happy with my experiences at EMK and working with the students. They have taught me a lot about finding new ways to approach various situations and I think as I spend more time there I am developing interpersonal skills I otherwise would not have had the opportunity to develop so early on.