Browning, Day 2, De La Salle, March 10, 2026

We’ve just finished up all our activities for the day (excluding evening prayer), and without a prompt for this blog post, I’m forced to really reflect on the events and feelings experienced throughout the day. I spent today in the 4th and 5th grade classroom and had such a wonderful experience. Despite what everyone’s been telling our group about the kids the past weeks, I found it relatively easy to enter in to today with few expectations. Placing expectations on these kids—with experiences many of us have no way of relating to—seemed unfair. Each one of the children in the classroom was unique, learning in different ways, with different interests and different priorities. While talking with the kids and playing with them, I was often reminded of how genuinely wonderful each child was—despite refusing to do their work, or interrupting, or storming out of the classroom. It was difficult to remain patient at times, but feelings of frustration or anger never entered the equation.

We spoke briefly about God’s commandments during the religion block—specifically the two greatest commandments: love God with all your heart, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. These kids, although young, exemplified both of these so well.

I was surprised at how emotionally mature so many of them were. The ‘students ‘Little Flowers’ were honestly kind to one another, aware of how the other needed to feel loved. When we were playing games on the breaks or at lunch, no one was left out or spending time alone. There didn’t seem to be any expectations the kids placed on each other; the quite kids were able to stay silent without being pestered or forced into speaking while the more extroverted kids were able to be boisterous without driving away other personalities. No one needed to say anything explicit or do anything grand to show that they loved and valued their ‘neighbor’. This kind of acceptance of the person standing in front of you, for who they truly are—not who you would like them to be—seems inherent to what it means to be human, to live like Christ. Although we were technically supposed to be helping the students with long-division and what-not, today, I learned so much more from them than they did from any of us.

Megan Davies, Freshman, International Relations and Political Science Majors studying at Carroll College

Today was our first experience helping out in the classrooms, and as I’m reflecting about how the day went I feel very grateful for the opportunities I had to grow in my appreciation for the kids we were serving today. When we arrived at the school before any classes began I was initially unsure how well I was going to be able to connect with the students; however, although shy at first, I found that many of the kids were willing to open up and receive help in their schoolwork. While I don’t consider myself an outgoing person, I had successes today in connecting with students and I believe this was due to their receptiveness and the energy they have as kids. Overall, I was very pleased with the interactions I had today and am looking forward to improving the service I can perform over the next several days, and I think the best way to do this is to improve the relationships I form with them.

One of the things we discussed in preparation to this trip was the importance of connection with the kids. Being able to show them that you care about them is very important for their growth because they understand that you are coming from a place of love. I don’t know if I stressed it enough in the first paragraph, but the kids I got to work with today were genuinely wonderful. Although there were moments today where the behavior of some students was trying to say the least, it was energizing to see the goodness present in the most troubled kids. Part of this came about when I reflected on their human nature and how I would feel in their situation. Sitting through eight hours of school today reminded me how boring some parts of middle school were, so it’s no wonder that kids with high energy have trouble concentrating on their work. What stuck with me more than their behavior was their interactions with each other and the joy they exhibited when doing something they loved. I am very excited to continue working with them over the next few days and deepening my understanding of their life.

Mark Ahner, Freshman, Accounting and Strategic Finance Major at Carroll College