“The experience/work was much more than just academic learning; rather, it was about making genuine connections with the students, which was really meaningful and a lot of fun.”
Destination: New York, NY
Trip Organizers: Uygar Sozer ’17 ([email protected]) & Kathy Bi ’18 ([email protected])
The Experience
For one week, Williams students provided after-school tutoring in all subjects for children grades K-5 at the Prospect Interfaith Family Inn, a homeless shelter in the Bronx. During the mornings, participants assisted at Prospect’s daycare for younger children and helped with cleaning, organizing, and any other tasks that help make the shelter run more smoothly. The Williams team worked side by side with the students and teachers in the after-school program with the goal of learning from and supporting the children they met not only as students, but also as individuals with unique pasts, presents, and futures.
Participant Quotes
- “I think that through working with the children I gained a greater sense of fun, as well as patience and hard work. They were inspiring! One little girl copied every single word of a book she couldn’t read onto a piece of paper, and told the whole story through pictures. One day, she put the pictures and words together.”
- “[This trip provided] a very real and present, albeit limited and brief, view of homelessness, since we were spending our entire work time in the homeless shelter.”
- “I was exposed to very low‐income minority children who were living similarly as I had lived, and being able to help guide them, although briefly, was substantial.”
- “The experience/work was much more than just academic learning; rather, it was about making genuine connections with the students, which was really meaningful and a lot of fun.”
- “I learned a lot about homeless rehabilitation programs in New York, which was really interesting/new information to me.”
Megamenu Social