Instead of sunshine and the beach, I decided to go on the Immersion Trip hosted by Community Engagement Center aka. BearBreak with a bunch of strangers.
Unexpected is good: I am going to be quite honest; I had no idea what BearBreaks entails at the time of application. I saw a poster about an Immersion trip in Dallas, where students get to volunteer with a focus on youth and education. I love volunteering, I want to learn more about education, I have never been to Dallas, TX. Triple win. Staying with a bunch of strangers in the same house for a whole week might be a little awkward, but I am notorious for not thinking things through, I signed up regardless.
How many students would it take to start a fire? The answer is more than 5. We had a brilliant idea of a bonfire to roast hot dogs and s’mores after our long drive down to Texas, a great bonding activity and time to unwind. What we didn’t think through is that starting a fire is no joke, especially how it is dependent upon the weather of the night before, humidity, and other factors. The result was worthwhile. Gathering around the bonfire, we got to know ourselves, we laughed at silly jokes. You could practically feel the ice and the tiredness after a long drive to Texas being melted away. We were excited to start the new day.
Volunteering at Wesley Rankin Community Center (WRCC): We started our volunteering experience on Monday. After a whole day of getting to know the staff and the facility, learning more about what we can do in the classroom, we were assigned to assemble first aid kits in preparation for their Summer Camp, organizing the facility closet, which took place in 2 days but with great teamwork and many hours later, I would say we are now qualified to go on Fixer Uppers reality show. Tuesday to Thursday, we divided into 2 groups for K-2 and 3-5 kids. I never thought I was the best with kids, but Pete the Cat and the ability to do origami took care of that for me. We led many activities as a group: watercolor painting, creating painting with shaving cream, scavenger hunt. We would read aloud stories and sing as a group, play Legos together, run around or build fortresses out of mats in the gym. Seeing the kids working together and having fun as a group was my highlight of the trip. I hope we were able to cultivate their sense of creativity, tenacity, patience, and sense of team.
There is a saying in Vietnamese, “Một nụ cười bằng mười thang thuốc bổ”, meaning one smile equates to 10 doses of good medicine. I told my parents on one of those phone calls from Dallas, TX, I might have had like 1000 doses of good medicine this week. We would tell each other stories and laugh. We would play card games and laugh until there were tears in our eyes. We would stay up all night in the yurt from laughing. It had gotten to a point where we would exchange eye contact and start laughing with each other across the room. Aside from being silly and fun, I felt like I have learned a lot from BearBreaks, both from my group and the kids, what and how to become a better citizen, community member, educator. The knowledge I would not have gotten if I didn’t sign up to go. I would never forget this experience and I would like to thank CCE for organizing such a well-thought-out trip, Wesley Rankin Community Center for a meaningful experience, and my groupmates, my friends now for such a great first BearBreak.
