"I Wrote it in Greek for You"

It has been many months since I added to the blog. It’s not because I have nothing to say; it’s just a matter of discipline. But, this morning I received a reflection from one of our 2013 interns, Chloé Benner from Virginia Tech, that so clearly captures the mission of the Good Neighbors program that it has to be shared. Her reflection helps me understand why I have such passion for this work. I hope all who read this catch the passion!

Chloé’s reflection—

              

       

    Sometimes it’s hard to tell whether something you did had a positive impact on a child. All of the interns spent the summer brainstorming, prepping, and presenting activities that we hoped would be of benefit to the large numbers of children entrusted to us through Good Neighbors. Sometimes the feedback from the kids isn’t immediate or obvious, but if you watch for the subtle signs that something caught their attention, you pick up on things that might have made a difference in a child’s life.

            One day for art we were outside using chalk on the blacktop. As a Classics major who loves all things Greek and Roman, I decided to make the activity educational in relation to my own field – so I offered to write the name of any student who was interested in ancient Greek letters. One boy named Buddy joined the line, glanced at his name in an ancient script scrawled across our modern asphalt, then promptly left and moved on to other things.

            Buddy had been having some trouble in school, with his peers and with his teachers, due to his recently diagnosed autism. At camp, though, he was learning to relate to those around him beautifully. Evidence of this came during morning games one day. Buddy loved to draw cars and trucks, and one morning he presented me with a picture of an ambulance. I told him that I loved his art and would always hold onto it, but I requested that he write his name on it so that I would always remember the friend who gave it to me. He picked up a pencil, wrote his name, then handed it back to me. But there was something unusual about it. The first letter of his name had an extra tail, and his d’s had more curves than they would with typical handwriting. “I wrote it in Greek for you,” he said. 

            I was speechlessly grateful. Now all of the children and interns have scattered back to their homes, but I keep that ambulance drawing by me as a reminder of why this summer was so meaningful. In that one simple gesture, Buddy showed me that the students I worked with might have absorbed more than I knew. What looked like a quick glance at his name on the blacktop took enough time for him to memorize what I was sharing. One small moment, that I thought went nearly unnoticed, ended up staying in his memory. And beyond that, this child who had been having trouble connecting with the emotions of others did something that turned into the most thoughtful gift I have ever received. He respected my love for a subject, though it probably had not been of prior interest to him, and he made me realize that the subjects I study and the jobs I take with elementary school children give my life meaning.

            From that point on, whenever Buddy was writing or drawing anything for me, he instinctively wrote his name in Greek. I held on to each one of those pieces to help me remember that my time, and the time that the other interns spent at Good Neighbors, left a mark for the better on these children, and as a reminder that these wonderful, thoughtful children turned this summer into the best I’ve ever had through unassuming acts of kindness, just like Buddy’s.