English 212

2002 Third Paper

On Serendip

This is a living and growing organization. They currently have two sites, working on three. My site has a welcoming and highly energized atmosphere,which is half the staff and the rest is the actual physical location of the site. There are many rooms which are used at different stages of the programs available for the children. First, there was a room with four windows, two on each parallel walls painted a shade between beige and green. Inside are two small black leather looking couches, one big beige lounger, and a couple of uncomfortable looking chairs. The uncomfortable chairs out number the comfortable ones. The room is warm, but not too warm, which would have had us all falling asleep. This room is on the second floor with long windows that look out onto either the street or the roof of the building.
I walked in without knowing what to expect. First I wasn't sure if I'd be designated to a specific age group. The program is available for children in the 3rd grade to teenagers. The teenagers were at another site about a block down the street from my site. I wasn't sure how the program was constructed or if my being there would be somewhat distracting to the students.
When we walked in the room there was an initial hush as there usually is when new people join a group, whether they are strangers to the group or not. The length of these silences can be what determines the rest of the experience. I was relived when the coordinator just acknowledge or presence then continued with her topic by restating the question.This way we became part of the conversation rather than just observers.


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