When I first joined the A plus program, I dreaded it. I didn’t want to have to spend the rest of my high school career with little kids who scream and cry all the time. However, as I started the mentoring and tutoring process, my mind changed and I began to realize that it might not be so bad after all. The summer after my junior year ended, I knew that it was time for me to buckle down, so I signed up to help out in the primary during summer school. I thought, "Why not?" I didn’t have anything else to do, so I gathered my courage together and walked in to the classroom with my head held high, not realizing what an impact it would have on my life.

  The kids were absolutely amazing, and I fell in love with every single one of them after the first day. I got to know all of them and soon I knew all of them by name. I felt such a bond with them. Since about the middle of my junior year, I had felt a calling that I needed to do something that dealt with little kids. This was the perfect opportunity for me to reach out to them and be there for them when they needed me. Just to see their faces when I helped them do their math homework and to hear the words, "I got it!", come from their mouths felt awesome.

  I finally felt like I was getting through to them. One day, one of the girls in the class walked up beside me and grabbed my hand as we were walking to recess. After that, I had a war on my hands when all the girls started fighting over who was going to get to hold my hand. Although they were not my kids, I treated them just like they were my own. They are amazing children, and I would not have traded my time with them for anything else. I was shocked when I realized that you really can make a difference doing the smallest thing for someone. Kids that may be from a broken family or that have many siblings can come to school, have fun and receive the attention and the love they deserve. They can finally feel that they belong somewhere for once in their life.

  As an A+ student, I realized showing compassion for someone else is the most important thing. It doesn’t take very much to make children happy. Just showing them that you really do care and that you are willing to talk to them about anything or help them with the work that they are having trouble with is enough. As my time with the kids slowly came to an end, I felt like I was being pulled away from a small little family. The kids had definitely grown on me, and it was hard to say goodbye.

  On the very last day that I spent with the kids, they told me to close my eyes. As I stood at the front of the classroom, they one by one brought up little cards that they had made me with their little scribbles all over them. They each gave me a hug and said that they would miss me. It touched my heart to the innermost part, and it is a memory that will forever last. To this day, I still have all of their cards, and I plan on keeping them till I am old and gray, so I will remember each of their faces and so that I may look back on these times and remember the effect that I had on these kids as their mentor, tutor, and their friend.