Recharging, Reflecting, Reorienting

This is always one of the toughest parts - trying to communicate your experience to those who weren't there. It's really hard to articulate the feelings of love, heartbreak, family, shock, and hope that were felt. Everyone experiences these, but in completely different ways.

Here are some lessons that I learned this past week in Philadelphia:
- Don't judge a book by its cover. Don't judge a person before knowing their story.
- In all things, be kind.
- The most difficult thing to teach is self-esteem and belief in yourself.
- Getting good grades isn't a priority if you are forced to be an adult before you're even a teenager. Circumstances matter.
- Memes are always the answer.
- I don't have all the answers. Sometimes I really just need to shut my mouth and listen.
- If you serve with all of your heart, the simple fact that you care can make a difference to someone else.

And some lessons I learned from my teammates: 
- From James: "never underestimate the power of hope."
- From Cyrus: keep asking questions. Let your imagination be limitless.
- From David: vulnerability and stepping outside your comfort zone leads to amazing results.
- From Emily: stand up for your values. Be yourself, unapologetically.
- From Harriet: kindness is understood across all barriers. Harriet is unconditionally kind.
- From John: you don't have to speak a lot in order to say a lot. In other words, John is profound.
- From Joy: the people who love themselves are the people who can best love others.
- From Larisha: you have to listen with an open mind and reject biases to know what the cup is. Is this a metaphor? Maybe.
- From Laura: everyone has fears, and the strongest people are the ones who stand up again and again when their fears face them.
- From Fearless Leader Bri Low: don't take things for granted. If you have an opportunity to do good, put every ounce of your heart into it.
- From Fearless Leader Morgan: humility. Translation - Morgan is one of the most amazing people I've ever met, but you won't hear her talk about her accomplishments. She lives for others and asks for nothing in return.

After an Alternative Breaks experience, reorientation is key. We have to ask ourselves, "What now?" and figure out how to translate what happened then into what we will do now. Knowledge is nothing if it isn't channeled into action. I'm looking forward to continue working and discussing with my team so that we can see our experiences blossom.

Peace, Love, AB!  - Clare

1 Week Later And...

...it was one of the best weeks of my life. I honestly couldn't imagine what this week would be like before arriving at Tilden. Many people highlighted Tilden's bad reputation, its lack of order, and other various reasons as causes for concern while there. Although these factors could be seen throughout the school, I think it is safe to say that there is hope for Tilden. Working with the students this week showed that many of the students do care about school and with a little push, they can succeed. Even though we would certainly like to be there longer, I think it was important for us to be there for them, as the students could see what they could be in a few years, if they put their minds to it. It was great to see that when Joy asked a class how many of them want to go to college, the majority of the kids raised their hands, even yelling out some names of universities. To end, as James said in one of our reflections, "there is hope in a hopeless place," and that's what keeps us going as a team. I couldn't have imagined doing this with better people and as a freshman, I feel like if I were to do another AB experience, no team could beat this AB Philly family. Till next time.
- John
#TildenRound2 ?

This week in Philadelphia has been the most rewarding and eye opening week of my life. Tilden Middle School is something I've never experienced before and something I'll surely never forget.

Tilden Middle School

Over the course of the week I worked in a 6th grade class. Being in that class was probably the best thing that could have happened to me. The teacher was so inviting and immediately got me and Laura involved with teaching and working with the kids. She definitely put us on the spot numerous times throughout the week, but every time she did I learned so much more about myself. This experience only solidified my plans to become a teacher in the future. 

Even though Tilden was a positive experience for me overall, so much happened over those 5 days that opened my eyes to the many issues that surround the educational system in urban areas and America as a whole. Though I won't get into the nitty gritty of everything that happened at Tilden here on the blog.  I'll be sure to take all that I learned and try to share that knowledge and continue to do what I can to improve education for the kids of the future.

This week has also been a great opportunity for me to get to know the 11 other members of my team who are all so passionate and caring. I know if the world had more people like them in it, we'd definitely be moving in the right direction towards social change. 

The kids during a math lesson. Don't let them fool you, they aren't really that focused on what the City Year is teaching 

My co (BriLow) and I being great on our last day at Tilden

I'm truly going to miss the kids at Tilden Middle School. I wish each and everyone of them the best and they'll definitely be in my thoughts and in my heart for years to come. 

My New Family

Almost 2 weeks ago, here we were

 

We were actually different people. Not only did we barely know each others names, we had NO IDEA what we are about to experience. Its incredible how one week can literally make you realize so much about yourself. In addition to the amazing experience of Tilden Middle School, I have grown to love this group. As a trip leader I was most apprehensive about group dynamics, would people click or if it would just be tons of awkward silences. We have shared so many tears of sadness, accomplishments and laughs. As a person who really enjoys her space and loves alone time, I never felt myself getting sick of these people. In that picture two weeks ago, I had no idea how incredibly lucky I was to have such an amazing team and it worked out so perfectly. 

Here we are in the last picture in Tilden. New mindsets, new family. I love you guys forever and thank you for making my experience as a trip leader amazing and effortless. 

-brilow/briyonce 

I will miss you Tilden

It's  over. Our time at Tilden Middle School is done. I will truly miss the kids. Is it weird to say that i consider the kids at Tilden my little  brothers and sisters? In this short time I really bonded with them. I learned a lot from them and i hope they learned from me in return. I would  continue  writing  but i am so emotional I will start crying  again.

An Amazing Day

Thursday has been the best day for this whole experience personally. Despite all the things said about this school, we can all see the great things about the school. We love the students even the ones that were hard to tolerate. They have made us not only laugh, but also helped us learn about ourselves. They refueled the passion that made us come on this trip.
At night, the group bonded. First, there was crying over specific kids' situations and how far some of us have come. The mood soon switched and we cracked up over various crazy stories about the kids. We played games and talked until it was time for bed.
Now it is our final day at school and I don't think I'm ready to leave.

Laughter is the Best Medicine

I can honesty say that I've never laughed harder than I have tonight. I don't know if it's the tiredness or the kids' goofiness, but I've just been dying laughing from all our silliness. I think it's a symptom of me working at Tilden Middle School. All day I am quite serious working with the kids, making sure they're doing work and helping them out. And a lot of times they test me patience, but I've been keeping all those negative emotions in. I think all the laughing is me letting out a lot of pent up stress and helps me cool off from the chaos that is Tilden. I just need a laugh to get my mind off some the problems and struggles the school goes through. So lesson from David: when you're feeling stressed or bummed out from negative emotions or experiences, just have a laugh and see if anything changes.

I can talk so much more about my experiences at Tilden and with the kids, but I need to collect my thoughts and form them into something coherent.  All I can say for sure now is that I just want more time to help. I feel like my job is not done here, and I need more time.