Lily Terhune

September 22, 2014

Professor Young

ENGW 1110

Writing

After a long tiring school day I would drive to my second home. As I go through the doors of the daycare the smell of children and diapers scent was so strong like my mother cooking that could be smelt from anywhere in the house. I could hear the voices of little children coming from all the classrooms down the halls. The walls were bright and colorful, full of the children’s artwork from the ceiling to the floor. There were eight classrooms, all representing a different animal for the different age groups. I would pass the koala class, hearing the sounds of crying infants and the faces of stressed out teachers. Then I would pass the penguin and lion room, where toddlers were running around the room tearing the toys off the shelves and leaving the room as if a tornado hit it. As I made my way up to the classrooms filled with the older kids, the building smelt less like diapers and smelt more like markers that were being scribbled against papers.

Foundations Prep School, where I worked for 2 years has become my second home. I was given a class of children who were ready to learn, and I was eager to teach them. I was the afternoon teacher and had a class filled with 19 three year olds, ranging in abilities and personalities. The children would run around the classroom, causing me to become stressed. They would come down when would read books, play centers, and of course dance to music. 

Foundations Prep School has had a extreme impact on my life; I have never been as happy as when I am there with those kids. During the last period of my own school day, I would often catch myself looking up at the ticking clock watching the hands move anxiously waiting for the bell to ring, so that I can leave to go to my class at the daycare. After a while, being at Foundations did not feel like work. I wasn’t working for the paychecks; instead I was doing it for the kids. My work with the kids at Foundations has been one of the most enriching and rewarding experiences of my life. There was so much love at the school that I could feel the building wrap its arms around me and hug me. These kids were the reason for my happiness; the reason for the smile on my face at the end of the day.