Choosing to attend Northeastern University was no easy task for me as I had gotten numerous offers from excellent universities around the United States. Fortunately, however, I am extremely glad that I ultimately chose this university, as my experience thus far has been amazing. One activity in particular that has truly contributed to my enjoyment here is volunteering at the Yawkey Boys and Girls Club.
Of the many community partners with which I could have worked, I chose to volunteer here as I have always loved working with children. My primary role at the club is to help to get the children interested in art by doing various activities such as drawing, painting murals and making collages. Sometimes there are also field trips to art museums around Boston. I have not yet had the pleasure to go on one with them, but I am very excited to do so. There are also special occasions on which other activities are done. For example, on Halloween there was a fun day at the club, so I spent the day playing with the kids and painting various animals and characters on their faces. Although I am there to make art enjoyable for the children, they have really been the ones to make it a wonderful experience for me as I have built relationships with many of them.
Moreover, volunteering at The Boys and Girls Club has helped me to feel more comfortable in my new environment, the city of Boston, as I have been able to explore the area of Roxbury. After personally seeing various parts of the neighborhood while walking to the club, I realized that like every area, there are both positive and negative aspects. Consequently, this experience has allowed me to become at ease not only in the Northeastern community, but also in my wider surroundings.
I am, therefore, looking forward to continuing my work with the Boys and Girls Club, as well as to the other amazing experiences that I know I will gain due to the countless opportunities here at Northeastern University.
Here are some pictures of the face paintings that I did (you may notice I am not the best artist, but I tried).
by Liann Ammar, Undeclared, University Scholar from Kingston, Jamaica