As I sat on the floor in this large room on a soft blanket, with all of these bright books surrounding me, I thought to myself “wow, what if no one wants to come read to me, and how is having someone read to me going to help anyone in anyway?” As these questions dance around in my mind, teasing me and making me wonder as I gaze off into the distance, I suddenly snap back to reality when I hear a door open. Boom! Suddenly I see children of all shapes, sizes, and colors come sprinting out. There are lots of them so I was sure that someone would come over to my station.
As I watch children run over to the areas of familiar faces that they have read to In the past, I get discouraged because this was the first time that I had ever gone to “Read To Me” with Mrs. Green. Sitting alone on my blanket I looked around the floor and picked up a book, “Transformers” I began to read the book quietly to myself, just as I got to page five I hear a young voice say “can I read that book?” I look up and see a boy with a name tag that read “Darrell”. He was wearing ripped jeans and a yellow and orange striped collared shirt, his hair was sort of scruffy, but he had the nicest winkle in his eye. I replied “sure, would you like to sit and read it to me?” his face lit up with joy, he sat next to me on my soft blanket and began reading. Listening to Darrell and seeing his face light up made me realize that having children read to you and making people feel needed was an amazing feeling. The warmest sensation came over me while he was reading. I was surprised to realize that reading to me was such a privilege for him.
I could tell Darrell was happy reading and explaining the books and pictures to me, it made me smile to see how much he was smiling. When he finished the book we just sat for the rest of the time and talked. He told me about how his sister was teaching him how to double dutch, and he loves playing football with his friends. He told me that he was 9 years old and his birthday was on October 14th, and I’ll never forget it because my birthday is on October 1st. I was so surprised that I could have so much in common with someone so young, and different from me. This young boy made my day so much happier that day and completely changed my life. This experience made me realize that community service is not really a liability at all but a privilege.