Reading has always been of utmost significance to me. As a child, I would carry a book everywhere I went, becoming quite skilled at walking and reading simultaneously (a skill that, unfortunately, has failed to transfer over as an ability to text and walk). Naturally, then, I jumped on the opportunity to volunteer at a primary school with Trinity’s Vincent DePaul activity, Kid’s Literacy. This weekly two hours spent in a grammar school setting not only consistently reminds me of just how much I adore being a part of the education of young children, but has also motivated me to seek other outlets in order to volunteer on a more regular basis.
This desire complemented with some online sleuthing quickly led me to Roddy Doyle’s Fighting Words, an organization that encourages primary and secondary school children to do something I consider to be absolutely incredible—it encourages them to write creatively, grants them the opportunity to put their pens to paper and write freely, without criticism or academic boundaries.
I made my way over this morning for an interview, starting off a good hour early considering that I wasn’t completely positive of the easiest route to take. Now, I’ve never been good with directions, so it didn’t surprise me that after twenty-five minutes of walking, I had to (quite embarrassingly) come to a standstill and whip out a map of Dublin from my pocket. Almost immediately upon me doing so, a woman approached me, asking “Are you all right, pet?” I told her I was looking for Russell Street, then immediately qualified my statement by asking for directions to Croke Park (the stadium next to Fighting Words). However, my mentioning of Russell Street rang a bell—“you’re not looking for Roddy Doyle’s place are you? Well, you’re asking the right woman.” I had stumbled upon a fellow volunteer without even knowing it! And, to my own surprise, I was only about 200 yards from Fighting Words (not bad for the girl who found the Maps and Diagrams section of the ITBS tests in grammar school to be the toughest part of the whole test).
Upon my arrival, I was immediately greeted by loads of friendly faces, all volunteers. After a quick run-through of how the program works by the coordinator (who is actually from CT-go figure!), I was invited to stay on and observe the primary school segment. The volunteers immediately jumped into various roles from making nametags to setting up the bean bag chairs the children would sit on, to the main role of storyteller (the volunteer who interacts with the children as a group, helping them to choose a main character, the main character’s best friend, the main character’s biggest wish and his/her biggest fear). The eleven boys in this session were intent on their main character being a hobo who feared his reflection, wanted desperately to be a nerd, and who had a hippie for a best friend. After about an hour of coming up with the first few lines of the story, the children then break off and write individually, constructing their own endings.
It was absolutely incredible to see them all settle down right away, each with their own idea of how the story would go on—from the two friends getting a job at Tesco, to meeting Albert Einstein, to being fired by their boss, Mary Byrne (the Irish woman who was on the X factor this season).
Needless to say, I can’t wait to start volunteering next semester! And, perhaps, in the process of helping other students cultivate an appreciation for creative writing and come to the realization that writing is not a natural gift only given to a select few, but something all can practice, I will find myself picking up my pen as well.
http://www.fightingwords.ie/donate.html
