Even though my time in Jamaica has come to an end, my heart takes me back to my favorite moment at the Mt. Airy All Age School. The day hadn’t gone as planned for me because I was overwhelmed by the 47+ students in the one class I was teaching. Things quickly went out of hand, classroom management was out of control and I didn’t know what to do because the host teacher wasn’t in the class.

Luckily it was the end of the day, I felt like a failure and I was ready to give up. I sat in the main pathway and a little girl came up to me and asked me if I was ever going to get the chance to read to her class. I was in the lower grades 1 and 2 and I believe she was in 3rd. I told her not this time but I would love to read to her now. I took out my book Every Little Thing by Cedella Marley and started to sing/read the book to her. As I turned the page another student joined in and every page after that seemed like another student would join and before I knew it I had a whole chorus of students sing/reading with me. It made what I thought was a zero day for me go to 100% in an instant. That’s when I remembered that is exactly what I am in Jamaica for, TO READ TO THE STUDENTS, to teach them, to love what I am doing, to love them and realize that even if I feel like I may fail every now and then, Every Little Thing is Going to be Alright!!!

Where do you begin to express your thoughts and feelings when you come back to a hotel filled with every amenity you could possibly need and more, knowing there are people all around you just hoping they could have just one ounce of what you were experiencing. You feel over stimulated with emotions that you cannot seem to put into words? This Humanitarian project was a combination of joy, sadness, anger, sorrow, happiness and most of all love…

Walking into the Mt. Airy All Age School my first day, gave me feelings of sadness and anger towards my own country. I couldn’t understand why so many Americans give up such an amazing opportunity such as an education and throw it away like it is nothing more than trash lying on the ground. The respect these students give their teachers is beyond gratefulness and the students truly are happy to learn. The teachers and principal welcomed us into their school with open arms and gratitude. I feel as though I owe them many thanks for opening my eyes to their culture and giving me an opportunity to work with their students.
The people of Jamaica are proud to be citizens of their country. They are positive and full of hope, humor and love. They have inspired me to be a better person inside and out. I was amazed to see how welcomed they made me feel. They joy on the children’s faces every time we arrived was enough to make my heart melt and I can’t begin to count the endless amount of hugs I received from these beautiful souls. One week wasn’t enough to accomplish everything I wanted to, but I hope I have left an imprint on their hearts as they have on mine.
I have left Jamaica with so much love and respect for everything that I have in my life and I feel grateful and blessed to have had this opportunity to reach out to another country and have my heart touched in so many ways that I didn’t know was possible.

The GreatShape!Inc volunteers during my stay, were an amazing group of people and I have made so many friendships that will always share this special bond and part of my life with me. I also could not have had a better Professor or group of students from St. Petersburg College to experience this trip with. This blog cannot express everything I want to say but at least it can give you a peek of what I experienced on this amazing journey that I have had the privilege to be a part of.