Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Meet Daniel A!

Daniel A.
Corps Member serving at Malcolm X

Hometown: Winnetka, IL

Education: One year at Amherst College

What team are you on and what do you do? I’m a corps member serving at Malcolm X Elementary School, and I get to spend my days with the coolest 5th graders in all of Southeast DC. The rest of the kids at X aren’t too bad to be around either. As for my specific team role, I coordinate the Afterschool Starfish Corps, a service-learning program for the grade schoolers.

Why did you join City Year and why do you serve? I joined CY to become part of a movement—the national service movement—that has the power to fundamentally change our neighborhood, national, and global communities. If each and every one of us pushes ourselves to do something a little extraordinary, I know we can together make improvements small and great—from our day-to-day relationships, to our education system, to our foreign policies. Joining CY is just me doing my part.

What are you most excited about this year? I am really looking forward to becoming a fixture in the lives of the students I work with, for the year, at least. It’s the beginning of week three, and I can already feel that sense of familiarity with many of the kids I spend my days around.

What are you most nervous about this year? As I think back to all the amazing teachers I’ve had growing up, I can’t help but wonder: What if I can’t effectively teach and lead my kids? What if I can’t engage them? What if they’re not enthusiastic about their work? These challenges focus me on the task at hand every single day.

What is something most people don’t know about you and wouldn’t guess? I have had sporadic hiccups every day since the middle of March 2008.

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