Better than expected!

I visited Chemawa for my second time yesterday, but it was my first night of actually spending time with the students. We spend 6-7 in the library working with students on academic probation who are failing 2 or more classes. From 7-8, it's open to anybody that wants help or wants to hang out. The place was pretty packed, but it was the most fun I've ever had in a library. I started joking right off the bat, there was some loud conversation, and I think most were in good moods.

I met Sophia Garcia a sophomore with first-year standing who loves to read, but can't seem to motivate herself in much else. She and I share February birthdays, hers being the 20th, which makes her a Pisces while I'm an Aquarius. She was still excited because we're both "from the water." She'll turn 16 on a Wednesday, so I'll get to wish her Happy Birthday!! She was very hesitant, at first, to talk to me, but I could tell she was checking me out and could potentially be interested in a conversation. After I did enough making fun of myself, she was pretty quick to get over the "I'm sooooo cooler than you are" bit. We talked about books, and how she likes to read about "real" stuff, and sometimes fantasy. Eventually, we even did a few Pre-Algebra problems. When she left, she asked excitedly if I'd be back the next day (no, but next Wednesday!). And, she decided that if I was going to be at the Willamette event on Friday, she had better sign up to get herself there, too. MMMMMMM!!!!

I also met Brittany Brinkman, a sophomore from Tanacross, Alaska. She told me all about her family, and showed me a picture of her 10-year-old sister, Taylor. We sympathized with each other about having very thick, not straight but not curly hair, and discovered that neither of us loves to do math homework. I showed her some notes I'd taken from my Statistics class, and she couldn't believe that there wasn't a single number on the page! We got through a solid 20 problems of her homework, which I am taking as a great feat having been warned that I might not actually EVER get to homework with the students.

Montie Longhair listened to his iPod and read a book about Cherokee nations the whole evening, but I at least convinced him to come sit with us at the table instead of in the corner by himself. He's a junior, and we'll eventually be working on Life Science and Algebra.

Kyle is another student to which I'm "assigned." He marched right in, turned on his headphones, sat down at a table by himself, and worked on his math homework until 7 o'clock. Anna, one of the organizers, introduced me to him but he said he wasn't interested in working with a tutor. He's a senior. I had overheard Anna introducing him to another tutor earlier that night, and I thought I remembered hearing a Smith dropped in the conversation. So, despite his disinterest, I sat down for a minute and asked him what his last name was. His whole face lit up when I said my last name was Smith, too. He said it's not very common for him to meet Smiths on the reservation or at school. I shook his hand again and left it at that. I could tell he wanted to know more, but I thought I'd leave him curious so we could have somewhere to start next week.

The final student that I interacted with was Tiya. She came because she wanted to, not because she was on academic probation. When I introduced myself she got really quiet, thought hard for a few seconds, and then said, "Like barkin'. Like a barkin' dog." I asked her for her name. I was quiet, thought hard for a few seconds, and said, "Like tiyad. (tired)." She laaaaughed. I think we'll get along just fine, and I'm excited to see if she'll come back just because she wants to be there.

Wednesdays are some of the longest days for me, and by about 5pm I was ready for a nap... buuuut... I left Chemawa feeling energized and really glad to be in this partnership. I'm going to learn a whole lot, and it feels like something I'd like to be a part of the rest of my time at Willamette. Perhaps longer.