Playworks

While Frank and Lucy already did an incredible job describing the amazing experience of working with Playworks, I would like to talk about it a bit as well. First and foremost, seeing the excitement and joy that these kids had being on a college campus was tremendously rewarding. After the scavenger hunt, I heard one kid say that when they go to college they want to to go to Northeastern, and I'm sure the sentiment was shared by many others as well. This is a testament to the excellence of Northeastern, the beauty of the campus, and the kindness that lies within the student-body.

When the student athlete panel was announced, the kids were overwhelmingly happy to be in the presence of college athletes. They cheered after every sentence that the athletes uttered, and when the panel was done they were asking the athletes for autographs. The kids did not respect the athletes solely for their athletic prowess either; several kids asked how the athletes were able to balance playing sports and doing homework. The fact that at such age the kids already understand the academic challenge of being in college is truly extraordinary.

Having the opportunity to meet these fantastic kids was really for me. It makes me want to work with kids in the future. It also makes me feel very strongly about the proposal to cut the funding for service. If the proposal goes through, Playworks would be severely affected as a large number of their employees are through AmeriCorps. The impact that Playworks has on these kids is remarkable. I do not know what these kids lives are like aside from Playworks, but I can guarantee that having such positive role models as the Playworks employees, along with the amount of fun they having playing games and the large amount that they learn through the workshops is a big, positive influence on their lives