If you blindfolded me and walked me into Garfield E l e m e n t a r y School, I w o u l d ’ v e guessed I was in a nursing home. The sharp smell of musty, old furniture and cafeteria food greeted me at the front door. I walked through the yellow lit hallway to one of the kindergarten classrooms. Little did I know for the following Thursdays to come, the kindergartners would teach me more than I could possibly teach them.

The first week, I sat side-by-side with Sam, in those tiny kindergarten chairs, to read a book about snakes. My purpose was to help Sam understand the story better. Since snakes molted in the book, I tried to make a comparison for him. Looking at his messy shirt and muddy knees, I told him that sometimes snakes needed new, clean skin, similar to when he gives his dirty shirt to his mom to wash after a long day at school. He looked confused and said he didn’t have a washing machine and only when his shirts get really dirty do they go to the laundromat. I had given him a simple scenario, one I assumed all kids understood, and realized how different our lives were.

The next week, I worked with Adam. My purpose was to help him practice the numbers one through three. He wasn’t able to count that high, name those quantities, or write them. Instantly, I couldn’t help but compare Adam to the two four-year-olds I babysit. Before I put them to bed, we always work on our numbers, letters, and shapes. They easily know all the answers. I couldn’t help but be shocked by Adam’s limited understanding.

Although I don’t know what these students’ lives are like at home, Sam, Adam, and the other kindergartners I worked with forced me to look back on my life and realize how influential my parents have been throughout my life. I have been blessed with parents who wanted to spend time with me and teach me how to read and write. Further, I have been blessed enough to have parents that had the ability to take the time to do this. Ultimately, as a four-year-old, is it really my fault if my parents are too busy to teach me? I am lucky to have been given this attention early on in my life. Thank your parents for supporting you, pushing you, and inspiring you. Thank them for sending you to a private school. Be thankful for the opportunities they have given you to help you be successful because not every child has been given that chance.