Estoy voluntaria

A few weeks ago I went to church in Virginia, just to scope out a different singles' scene. I really, really liked it, especially since it seems smaller than the current congregation that I attend (it's gotten huge and out of control, in case you haven't read my previous complaints).

Anyway, in Relief Society we had a really great lesson on service. As a single person, I have a lot of time to give - I don't have a family to rush home to every night to take care of. I was really inspired to do something about this. I'd been thinking of volunteering for quite awhile, I just never made any moves to do so. Why not do a little something to contribute to the world? Turns out the very next day I ran across an email on a list-serv from a tutoring coordinator at a charter school here in DC. He needed tutors for students, mostly Latino, that are learning English. Perfect!!! I even think this is more inspired because it's at a school in Columbia Heights that I have driven past every single week and always wondered what it was.

I emailed the coordinator right away and made arrangements to start that week with orientation. The next week I was supposed to meet my student (it's one-on-one tutoring), but I was sick and had to cancel. The third week I showed up, and my student did not. Bummer!

But finally, today! I showed up on time and my student came shortly after. He's from Mexico and I think it's his first year in the English program. They paired with me a beginning student since I speak Spanish, which is a nice refresher for me. I think my language skills have declined a bit, but at least I can still converse with a teenager!