SL Interactions

During the time I spent at the YWCA, I spent a majority of my time with two of the older students, Jocelyn and Christopher.  They were ten and eleven years old, so we had a lot of good discussions during the time we spent together.  Christopher and I played games like connect four and UNO a lot and we got to talk about certain things.  I found out that he had a younger sister in Miss Nancy's room and that they both go to the YWCA a lot.  He has fun there, but he wishes he could spend more time at home.  Hearing him talk about some of the things he had going on in his life made me feel for him and I always felt sad after I left.  He is Mexican and he said that even though most of the children there are African-American, he never feels like an oddball out or anything.  I learned that he really likes math and he is a quick thinker.  He also really enjoys the book series, Diary of A Wimpy Kid.  He likes to read books that are funny, but he hates to read the stuff he has to read for school.  I also spent a lot of time with Jocelyn and had fun with her.  One day we spent a lot of time just the two of us and she taught me how to make a keychain by braiding the string in this really cool way.  We made those together and talked.  She has three younger sisters that also go there and her family dynamic seems to be kind of chaotic.  By the stories she told, I feel that she has a lot more responsibility than a normal 11 year old should have.  Her sisters seemed to be constantly coming to her for something and I could tell that she is in charge and probably watches them a lot at home.  She really likes school, but she feels like kind of a loner there.  She is very quiet and kind of sticks to herself.  I felt that she did not really have a companion at the YWCA, she kind of just drifted.  I think this is probably what happens to her at school and I think it will probably end up affecting her school work.  Both of these kids were so nice and so welcoming to me that it made me appreciate them so much.  I think one thing that is different about the students that go there is that they seem to be willing to talk to anyone.  It is almost as if they need the human interaction and attention, which makes me feel very sad for them.  I don't think either Christopher or Jocelyn gets what they need from their homes.