Over the course of my first school year at GCE I was immersed in a community that cared and helped one another. However GCE encourages us to go out into our own communities and help those within it. I had helped fix up homes in the Habitat for Humanity's Build project. This was where people from all over Chicago came together to help make homes in a two by one block radius more appealing and efficient. The build started at 8am and went on until 3pm. My specific group was tasked to fix a garden, paint the porch, and fix the stairs of the porch. During this whole experience I only had one fellow GCE student in my group and everyone else were strangers. It was a little awkward meeting my group mates and, at first, I thought we weren't going to be able to work fluidly enough to finish the big project. However it is a big suprise at how well people get along and are able to work when we come together for a good cause. By the end of the build the people around the neighborhood expressed their gratitude and it was more rewarding than any other kind of payment. Since our Thanksgiving break is a whole week versus the standard two days I was a teacher assistant for that Monday and Tuesday. I was in charge of the stations she laid out for the kids (grammar, matching, simple multiplication, etc) while she graded papers. The kids had been very sweet and loved my colorful hair, especially a little girl named Precious. I brought along a math riddle story, similar to that of The Two Pebbles, and they absolutely loved it. The children were engaged the whole time I was there always trying to show me what they knew. Whenever they kids had a specials class where the teacher and I weren't in charge I helped her grade papers and prepare for the next lesson. It definitely reminded me of my elementary school days and it was a complete blast spending time with these little fourth, fifth, and sixth graders.
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