Conor Monks Week1

Hey everyone, I am pretty excited to be a part of Summer Service Fellowship this summer and also a part of the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Memphis. I am working at the Ira Samelson branch which is located right off of Summer Ave.

I am from Mansfield, Massachusetts, which is an awesome town about 30 minutes south of Boston. I am sad that I am away from my family and my buddies for the summer, but being able to have an awesome job in Memphis definitely makes it worth it. I have grown to really love the city in my two years here and I think I may want to stay down here after graduation. 

So like I said, I will be working at the Boys and Girls Club, specifically I am running the healthy habits program for the Ira Samelson club. I chose this organization because I really believe in the purpose of the Boys and Girls Club. It is a place that offers children a safe and fun environment to grow/learn. I have already noticed in my four days working there that it really does fulfill this purpose. There have been times where I was questioning if what I was doing was really work since I have been having a lot of fun while with the kids. I also know that working here was going to challenge myself as well. So far, my patience and my creativity have been tested. Working with large groups of children can be really difficult, but it has been very rewarding.

I believe service is the act of helping others in order to provide them with equal opportunities. Service is not discrediting the backgrounds of certain individuals since they didn’t have certain opportunities. But it is helping those that would like to better there situation by offering opportunities that would be difficult to obtain themselves. This is what the Boys and Girls Club is providing to children in underprivileged situations. They learn about food, technology, art, and many other things at the club. These may be topics that they may never have learned otherwise. 

One expectation I have for the summer is to learn more about the food system in America. I would like to teach the kids about easier ways to access healthy food and how to make some good healthy food for them. I also want to leave a positive impact on the kids at the club and hopefully leave them with good thoughts about healthy food.