Boys & Girls Club- Week 5

Week five, or Wednesday, I devoted entirely to the 11-12 year olds. Typically the group is supervised by two staff members, but this time one of them was missing so I had opportunity to feel in his place. We began the day by playing some games with the kids, UNO, and talking about how their day had gone. They shared different stories, and as kids do, had much to say.
Later that day we went to play outside, and to my surprise the kids chose to play soccer over the rest of the games- something quite counter intuitive to me. I was expecting a game of baseball or football, but the kids chose the one game which I least expected. This put a smile on my face, I was so happy to see that these kids were playing a game which I grew up playing, but more so, I was happy to see that this was no longer the foreign game it used to be. I remember when I first moved to this country almost no one had any interest in soccer, and the game was as foreign to them as football was to me. I played with the kids, and we had a really good time.
Later the kids had dinner, followed by some more games. What was interesting that day was the fact that it seems like something changed in the way I see them, and the way I see individuals my age as well. From the very first day in the club, I could not help but look at kids and try to envision them as adults. I would take different traits from their characters and try to picture what sort of things they would be interested in when they grow up. This proved a very interesting experience for me. I see many of the traits which we, adults, posses, and observing the kids interact is a rewarding experience in its own. Something else that I began doing, however, was to begin looking at adults and envisioning them as kids. Now that I had spent some time with the kids and observe them interact, I began seeing us adults in a different light. The games we sometimes play, the things we find entertaining, the things we find as vitally important. Interesting thoughts arise from such observations and I can help it but smile and ponder upon such things from time to time.