Week Seven: Relationships

This week all of us were relaxing outside with our mentees. Their testing was done, the weather was nice, and summer was on our minds. As I began to ask Jose about his summer plans, however, I realized that his summer would not be the same summer that many of us experienced as kids. He will not spend his days exploring the neighborhood playing games with his friends; all of his friends are here at A.M.I.S. As Jose describes it, he is the second-to-last stop on the bus; all of his friends from the bus get off at the first stop. This was something that I could really relate to. The magnet school I attended when I was his age also pulled children from all over the city. Therefore, none of my classmates lived in my area. As a child, I was only allowed to ride my bike along one block of the street we lived on. Along that stretch there were two other kids close in age to me but we never got along. Jose said that his neighborhood’s population was mostly comprised of older people without kids.

My father and sister enjoying each other's company

Jose playing with friends at A.M.I.S.

Social surroundings influence people a great deal. The friends we make and the people we surround ourselves with help to shape the person we become. Each summer I, like Jose, spent a lot of time with my family. My dad and I would read books together, my sister and I danced in the mornings and played with chalk in the afternoons, and my mom always had an art project for us to work on. These relationships have continued to be an extremely strong influence on me and we are all extremely close still. My summer days forced me to learn how to enjoy my time with people of different ages, both older and younger. This is a skill that I still value to this day, and I am sure that Jose’s summer with his family will help to shape him in the same way it shaped me.