2nd Place Winner
Post 1:
As the oldest of four children, the majority of my life has revolved around my three siblings, whether it be cheering my brother on in his first high school swim meet or watching my three-year-old sister stumble around during her first week of dance. In a way, my first week with the Reading Bussies has been a breath of fresh air; this experience has allowed me to embrace the little things and has brought back fond memories of reading my little sister bedtime stories or helping my brother with his homework.听
My little buddies name is Emerson, but I call him Mr. Emerson. Although Mr. Emerson was timid and shy during the initial moments of our first interaction, he quickly warmed up and was eager to share his thoughts and ideas with me. It became apparent that despite having never participated in the Boulder Reading Buddies Program before, Mr. Emerson was ecstatic to spend time reading and meeting other kids in the program. During our first activity, Mr. Emerson was incredibly proud to share with me that he is homeschooled, four years old, has a sister, four dogs, and two cows that he considers part of his family. Despite my skepticism, Emerson went on to tell me that you can ride a cow in the same manner as a horse (as long as you 鈥渁ren鈥檛 too big鈥�). I also learned that Emerson鈥檚 favorite food is his dad鈥檚 veggie tacos, which are 鈥渞eally yummy.鈥澨�
When it came time to explore the library, Mr. Emerson was thrilled to have the opportunity to show me around and was keen to point out the fish tank. Although Mr. Emerson does not seem to have any favorite author or genre of books, when we began to brainstorm some ideas for our book, he was inclined to explore the inner workings of electricity and Minecraft. Mr. Emerson is incredibly bright for his age, and his excitement to read and learn is something that resonated with me and made me excited to continue developing his reading abilities while exploring truly fascinating topics.鈥�
Post 2:
While the Reading Buddies program at the Boulder Public Library has come to an unfortunate halt given the current state of the COVID-19 pandemic, the limited time I was afforded within the program was both rewarding and occasionally challenging. Working with my little buddy, Mr. Emerson, has been an incredible and mutually beneficial learning experience for both of us. I was surprised to find that on the first day of the program, Mr. Emerson had already been brainstorming stories, plots, and characters for his short story. Eventually, we decided to write a story about two snakes who get on a plane and travel to New York City.听
Given Mr. Emerson鈥檚 tenacity and aptitude for writing, I found it most challenging to reign in his ideas and help guide his thoughts to form a cohesive story without stifling his creativity. During my midterm checking with Andrew Ting, I discussed these challenges, and while we struggled to create a mitigation strategy, I found it most effective to talk through each scenario posed by Mr. Emerson during our sessions. For example, Emerson knew he wanted the bulk of our story to take place in New York City, but while we worked on the introduction of our story, he would often pose ideas such as 鈥渓et鈥檚 have the plane crash on an island鈥�, to which I would humor his creativity and proceed to discuss the implications this would have on our story. Upon realizing this would detract from his central idea, we would often brainstorm more ideas that would be feasible and implement them in our story.听
Overall, my experience in LING 1900 has taught me to be increasingly adaptable, both when working with kids, and when sudden changes in macroeconomic trends impact the overall trajectory of our daily lives. Although we were unable to finish our book together, I am hopeful that Mr. Emerson and his parents will continue to develop his story, and I hope to one day see it get 鈥減ublished鈥�.听
Post 3:
While it is easy to get bogged down in the details regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and the negative implications it has had on our daily lives as students at the 乐播传媒 Boulder, I would like to take a moment to reflect on my experiences with the Reading Buddies Program at the Boulder Public Library, and how it is positively impacting my current situation.听
Although my experiences with the Reading Buddies Program were cut short, the time I was afforded with the program allowed me to learn more about my buddy, Mr. Emerson, and more importantly, it reminded me what it means to be a kid, and be able to soak up every new experience with youthful exuberance. My favorite aspect of each of our sessions was the opportunity to brainstorm with Mr. Emerson and seeing his creativity as he thought of outlandish stories, plots, and characters to incorporate into our story. Most notably, it was incredibly invigorating to see that not only did my little buddy want to make his story silly and unique, but he also wanted to incorporate an underlying lesson of the importance of being yourself.听
That being said, Mr. Emerson and I still encountered a few obstacles which I noted in my previous blog post. Given his tenacity and aptitude for writing, it was most challenging to reign in his ideas and thoughts to ensure we created a cohesive story without sacrificing the creativity that we were both so excited to incorporate in the story. To avoid unnecessary repetition from my last blog post, I won鈥檛 outline the specific techniques we utilized to overcome these challenges. Nevertheless, this issue was simply a by-product of Mr. Emerson鈥檚 excitement to participate in the Reading Buddies Program; thus, it would be unfair to label this unique situation anything but a small obstacle that we easily overcame.
As I reflect on my experiences with the Reading Buddies program, I find myself coming 鈥渇ull circle鈥�; in my first blog post, I noted that 鈥渕y first week with the Reading Bussies has been a breath of fresh air; [it] allowed me to embrace the little things and [brought] back fond memories of reading my little sister bedtime stories鈥�. With ample free time at my disposal, I have found myself once again reading stories with my three-year-old sister and using the techniques I learned through the Reading Buddies Program to encourage her to continue developing her reading skills. Overall, my experiences in the LING 1900 course was incredibly rewarding, and I look forward to having the opportunity to give back to our community again in the future.
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