My First Day of Service: Sheun O.

I find it very easy to get into the routine of things being the same in life, especially in the morning when you are tired. Each morning produces some of the same occurrences; such as a reluctantly rolling out of bed and the difficulty of fighting to get the sleep out of your eyes. Soon after these tasks are accomplished, expectant thoughts of the day ahead begin to take place. Now I know that your morning may not exactly resemble this, but I am sure that you can relate in some way or another. One thing that I realized, through my morning struggle, is one of the most thought provoking times of the day can be while getting dressed. This was definitely something that stuck out about my first day of service.

A great sense of anticipation had grown leading up to our first full day of service in our school. Our team had been observing at our school for a few weeks and figuring out which teachers and classes we would be assigned to. I was able to experience all of the energy the students had to offer and the teacher’s struggles to cope with all this energy. I had the overall feel of what lied ahead for our year of service in the schools, but the first day still presented something different. I began to notice what this difference was while getting dressed in the morning. I noticed that a new mindset came with sporting my new City Year issued uniform. There would be a difference when we stepped in the schools this day. My first day of service made a statement; it was like a coming out party of sorts. My red jacket, “Timbs”, and khakis marked the beginning of journey with the intention of making a difference, which would last the entire year. I quickly realized that this mindset that arrived with my new uniform would soon be challenged by the reality of what service presented. I realized that all the temper tantrums, disobeyed requests, fights and other crazy behaviors I witnessed my first day and there after may cause my optimism to fade just as my uniform will, but I will definitely fight to remember the feeling of getting dressed for my first day of service.