Becoming active in my community

Last spring, my friend Rachel Yoder, who is from this area, asked me if I would like to coach GYSO with her. I am from Pennsylvania and had no idea what GYSO stood for, but once I found out that soccer and kindergarteners were involved, I was in. One disadvantage of college is that college students live in such a secluded environment. A huge percentage of our time is spent with people of a similar age and for some, our only other interaction is with our professors. I looked forward to this opportunity as a chance to spend time with people who were not my own age.

Coaching kindergarteners once a week last spring often ended up being the highlight of my week. It was amazing to see the range of development among these kids who were of similar ages. I can’t imagine having them all in a classroom because I felt like they were at such different points in their social abilities, coordination, attention span, communication, and athletic tendencies. However, I realize that this is reality. All students come to the classroom at different points in their development.

Another beneficial aspect of coaching was that I got a better sense of the Goshen community that I am kind of part of. By spending a vast majority of my time on campus, I haven’t gotten the chance to observe what this town is actually like. I was actually able to see the increasing Latino population rather than just hearing about it from news stories and documentaries.

Finally, I was glad for this opportunity just as an opportunity to maybe make a little bit of a difference in the life of one of those kids. Yes, it does sound a little cliché, but I have grown up in a community where I have loving parents and lots of role models around me. I used to take that for granted. Last spring I realized that having so many role models isn’t the norm, but that I had the chance to be a role model to those kids even if it was just for a couple months. It was a great experience to work with them and if my schedule works out, I would love another opportunity to coach.

Another experience in the Goshen community that I more recently had was Celebrate Service Day for Goshen College. My floor chose to help at the Elkhart County Women's Shelter. My RA and I had been there last year with our colloquium and our group had a really good experience that year. One of the most meaningful parts of it was that we actually got to interact with the people whose lives we were minutely affecting. This year didn't work out quite as well for us, but it was still a good time to connect with my floor and to help out the community in a small way. I got to work at both the main office and one of the safe houses; at both locations, one of the ways I helped was by picking up trash. I think that having clean surroundings is something that is easy to take for granted, particularly after having grown up in white, middle-class suburbia. It was nice to see what an aesthetic difference it made on each of the properties. The staff at both locations were just so grateful towards those who volunteered because we were able to just do those little extra tasks that they didn't have time to take care of in the midst of their busy lives.