During the second week of internship I had the opportunity to go on a few field trips with one of my mentor's co-workers. We went to a place I never knew existed called The Chula Vista Nature Center. Here is where 5th graders from certain schools get a tour of the nature center and after the tour, get to write back to their pen pals in La Paz, one of the nesting places for Green Sea Turtles. After some quick setting up we waited for the children to arrive. They all stepped off the bus enthused and animated, listened to directions, were introduced to me, and began the tour. We stopped to see the Sea Turtle tank first, then to see a Wetland to learn what these places mean to the many birds that stop for a rest during long journeys to more suitable environments. We eventually made our way to the Stingray & Shark Exhibit where I got to see the kids smile and reach into a rocky tank to touch the skin of the creatures that some of them had not ever seen up close.
After several more stops to see birds and learn new and fascinating things, we made our way to the room where the kids would write to their pen pals. We arrived and after some quick directions, I wondered around helping the kids that were struggling. I came across a little boy staring at his letter with his head in his hand. I soon found out that he was deaf in one ear & was having trouble understanding the directions that were given and how to read his letter. I spent around 15 to 20 minutes helping him read & write in Spanish, and watched him receive compliments on his thoughtful and nicely written letter. Watching these children at the Stingray & Shark Exhibit excited and hearing things like "they're so soft", or "whooaaaa", more commonly, though, I’d hear laughs from the joy of being able to learn with their hands and eyes, and seeing their success writing their letters, I realized that my heart is where there are young minds, so capable of learning, giving, and most of all, changing the world that rests in their hands.
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