Sometimes my LOCY (Life Out of City Year), however little of that I may have, can be a catalyst for change. I see families on the subway--foul-mouthed women with a parade of young children tagging along, people in tattered clothes asking for a quarter, or a young teen selling candy bars for a dollar stating "This isn't for my basketball team, this is for me." Because of this, I re-evaluate my every day work. I ask myself "What can I do to better help these kids, so they don't end up as the last 2 images listed. I know many of them were, at one time, a little kid following their mother around, hearing words of discouragement and seeing things that the majority of us never see, and I try to figure out how to reverse the damage. It's not even that they have a clean slate that I can start with because they are still in the midst of chaos at home and in their community.

Anderson was wild as usual during our literacy session. The other student wasn't there, so it was just the two of us. "Let's have a talk," I said. "Tell me about what's going on in your life." He writhed in his seat, avoided eye contact and talked about how his mother came back from Guatemala. I asked him if he knew why he was in a special session of tutoring with me, and went on to explain that I wanted him to move on to the 7th grade, to graduate middle school, move on to high school, graduate high school, go to college and get a job. I told him he was smart. I told him I was proud of him, and he wiggled around, his face lit up, he grabbed my arm and said "Whyyy?" So, I explained how he improved from 42% to 65% and that I wanted him to get 100%. I wondered how many positive things he heard a day. Surely, with 4 siblings, his favorite phrases with others being "loser" and "your fat" and the tendency to act up during class, not much. He couldn't stay in his seat any longer, and we got up to do a spelling race on the chalkboard: Andy versus Ella

Ta'jadea, a 7th grader, joined my After-School Heroes team after winter break. She is one of the sweetest girls, and we get along really great. I help her with homework, but her mom always picks her up before we start our lessons. She calls me her "best buddy" and it makes me smile. One morning, during our daily morning greeting aka attend to behavior issues while the principal is speaking, a fight broke out. Usually, I don't know the people in the fight, but this time I did, and it broke my heart. I saw her throwing punches at the air as the security guard picked her up and dragged her out of the auditorium. I saw her later that day in after-school, and asked her what happened. I told her it made me cry a little bit to see her that way, and she explained it was only the 4th time. "I hope it's the last," I said. There are better ways to use up your energy and express your anger. I believe that telling her what effect that had on me, effected her.

I plan on keeping in touch with these kids when I have a LACY (Life After City Year)(...and yes, City Year does use the acronyms). I would love to keep up a mentorship with them. I know there will be a new team next year, but these kids need some sort of consistency to show them that someone cares enough.