writers exchange

I received this tote bag tonight as a token of appreciation from Writers Exchange, the non-profit organization I volunteer at to help kids build their literacy skills.

I made a joke that I got it because I came back halfway through this last term of 2019, after taking a year off.

Another mentor said I should have gotten one a long time ago, and it was only when I read the enclosed note that it made me reflect on how much time I spent there.

Of how much time I spent mentoring those kids.

I don’t tell many people about what I do and those that hear about this program ask “Why do you choose to help this particular organization?”

Why?

Because I used to be one of those kids.

Came from a family that didn’t have much, but I didn’t know about being poor or at a disadvantage at that age. I was only made aware of this a few years later. The older kids made sure I knew that I came from the world of “have nots”.

I look at those kids and decided they don’t need to know, as they can be anything they want to be!

If they believed.

And that is why I am there. To help them believe.

When I saw Rita Pierson’s TED talk “Every kid needs a champion” it resonated with me hard. It made something inside me burn.

I reflected on my own life from that young age, then through high school, then university… then into the “real world”.

The struggles I experienced as I didn’t have anyone to ask the questions to. So I had to find my own answers, create my own beliefs and filters which skewed my perception of the world, which shaped me in ways I couldn’t have imagined.

Yeah… I used to be one of those kids. Pure potential.

I could be anything!

Until I was told that I couldn’t.
That I wasn’t good enough.
That I didn’t belong.

I look at those kids and decided they don’t need to know.

I look at those kids and decided to be the one thing I never had.

I look at those kids and decided to be their Champion.

#chasingbutterflies