operation CHANGE THE WORLD.

     “I’m freaking out!” said Antonio* as we headed into the hallway to practice his poem for Dearborn’s first Poetry Slam.

     I immediately stopped dead in my tracks and eyed him curiously. “Antonio, can I tell you a secret?” I asked. He nodded, unsure of what my response might be. “You inspire me.”

         I developed a friendship with Antonio when he started attending City Year’s extended day program – his maturity and love of poetry drew me in immediately. During one of our after school chats I learned that Antonio became interested in poetry in the third grade after being introduced to Langston Hughes. It was this year that he wrote an original poem to address the topic of bullying. Three years later, as the youngest student to perform and the only student to represent his grade, Antonio chose to read this poem at the Dearborn Poetry Slam and took second place, surpassing nearly all of his eighth grade competitors.

         I could not be more proud of him. While I do not doubt his potential for success, I am grateful that my team was able to provide him with a venue to really shine. I am also grateful that working with City Year gave me to opportunity to meet this bright-eyed sixth grader who not only shares my love of poetry, but also encourages me to face my own fears.

*Name has been changed to protect the identity of the student. 

The number of high fives I got before 7:30AM on Monday.

At the beginning of the year I made a list of things I would like to accomplish before the end of my service year. I am almost done! 

1. Learn to choose my battles.

2. Befriend an unfriendly 8th grader.

3. Start a newspaper at Dearborn Middle School.

4. Write more poetry.

5. Make Khoi Tau smile.

6. See positive change in one student.

7. Make new friends.

8. Develop stronger public speaking skills.

9. Talk to a stranger about City Year.

10. Remember that no one, including myself, is perfect.

11. Take advantage of CY leadership opportunities.

12. NOT bomb the GREs.

When I started training for City Year in August, all I could think about was how “Oberlin” the organization is. I could not believe that I had to find out about City Year by chance. Given the school’s commitment to equal education and community service, I knew for a fact that Oberlin students would be excited to learn about City Year. It is for this reason that I started planning a recruitment event at my alma mater in September. 

After months of emailing and making phone calls, my plan became a reality on Thursday, February 16. I collaborated with the recruitment manager of City Year Cleveland, the founder of The Bridge Avenue School, and the education-based community service coordinator at Oberlin College. I was a little worried about what the turnout might look like at the beginning of the event, but before I knew it I went from having three people in the room to having so many that we ran out of seats! I was thrilled see so many of my peers at the event and to find out that at least five of them are applying to various City Year sites for next year.