Why I have the best job an 18 year old can have.
I get to hang out with kids and get paid while doing it.
Everyday I go directly from the pessimistic world of my high school to the optimistic world of an elementary school.
When I walk in I’m greeted, on average, by 2-3 excited children. I’m the one they’ve been waiting for. I’m just as excited as the kids are when I arrive, I try to play it cool. I’ll talk to them, they stumble through their words as they try to share the amazing thing that happened in class today, or that hilarious episode of Spongebob Squarepants last night. After spending the last six hours listening to an adult talk, now they get to speak up. Finally, “an adult” is listening to them.
I want them to have fun while they’re here. Not being able to go home after school because no one is there sucks. They’re stuck with me, so we might as well have fun.
Sometimes they do stuff that isn’t so fun. I’ll yell at them for that, but I’ll go farther. I’ll explain. I’ll tell them why they shouldn’t do that. This is where the best part of my job lies. I get to impact these fresh brains. I don’t want to just tell them what’s wrong and what’s right. I don’t just want to teach them values. I want to teach them how to think, to make their own smart desicions, how to be people. Tiny, cute, little people.
I’ll encourage the girl who loves to draw to keep drawing, and I’ll tell the boy who loves to sing to keep singing. Because creativity is more important than they think. I’ll tell the kid who is obsessed with Doctor Who to keep being obsessed with Doctor Who, because passion leads somewhere.
We play and do every game and activity imaginable. Chess, Basketball, Connect Four, Dodgeball, Legos, Jungle Gym, Drawing, Singing, Talking, Laughing. I love all of it. The parents paid for the kids to be here, I’m getting paid to be here.
I’m immature, I haven’t grown up yet and there’s a good chance I never will. I was always the youngest child, now I get to be the artificial, part time, oldest child. I get to be what I never was, I get to change kids for the better, and I get to have fun while doing it.
I love my job.
