Before my first encounter with my student, I felt nervous and excited. Volunteering with a student was something that I’ve always wanted to do but I never had enough courage to actually follow through. After taking the appropriate measures, I was finally paired up with an individual.

My first time meeting her went better than expected. She was a little bit shy, but I immediately felt a connection to her. She was quiet but laughed a lot, and did not have much confidence in the subject of French. I believe I connected with her so well because she reminded me of myself when I was her age. It was clear to see her weakness and lack of confidence when it came to reading French. This was the focus of our sessions every time we met. The first encounter where we focused reading and grammar, she struggled at pronouncing the what-seemed-to-be complicated phrases. Each session we had together, I would teach her easy tricks to remember. Her favorite trick that seemed to stick with her was taking a tough word and breaking it down into different sections to pronounce.

It was truly incredible to see the difference from our first session to our last. She went from being a discouraged little girl who blossomed into a confident student. I was amazed at her accomplishments and I can’t help but feel proud of myself as well. It is a wonderful feeling knowing that I had such a positive impact on somebody.