Life of a Fellow: Abby
Meet Abby, one of our Fellows from Kensington Health Sciences Academy! Prior to joining 12+, Abby attended Mount Holyoke College for Politics. Check out her post below about some of her favorite memories from this year!
This fall at KHSA has been busy! Our PLUS Center is packed every day, and the seniors are working hard on their FAFSAs, college and trade school applications, and schoolwork. One of my favorite parts about working in the PLUS Center is that every day and even every class period is different and I never know exactly what the day will hold.
Because our days move so quickly and there is so much activity, for this blog post I want to pause and share some of my favorite moments so far from this year. While thinking about which moments have stuck with me the most, I realized that many of them are seemingly small, everyday interactions. But working in the PLUS Center has affirmed to me the importance of those small moments and conversations in building trust and connections.
#1: Halloween at KHSA! Kara, Juliette, and I dressed up as witches (me and Juliette) and a star (Kara). KHSA held a Halloween party for the students in the gym. It was so nice to see the students dancing, eating candy, and having fun in their costumes. One student dressed up as a zombie and wore prosthetics to simulate zombie bites. Another student periodically throughout the day came up behind me and would abruptly say, “Boo!”
#2: One of my students brought in her dog! I was sitting in the PLUS Center on a Friday afternoon, and one of the students came in and said, “Miss, there’s an emergency outside.” Alarmed, I followed him out the doors, and there was my student, holding her adorable dog who she had shown me photos of earlier that week.
#3: The New Jersey/Philly rivalry is real! As a New Jersey native and person who loves New Jersey, I have been trying to talk up Jersey to my students at every opportunity and refute their claims that Philly is better! In this process, I have learned a lot about both places. For example, air conditioning and the electric guitar were invented in Jersey. However, in fairness to Philly, the revolving door and ice cream soda were invented here. (But Jersey is still the best!).
#4: I was there when one of my students found out that she got into the Community College of Philadelphia! She was so happy and excited.
#5: One of my students, before we knew each other very well, taught me to play a very complicated card game, and we were playing but I was having trouble grasping the rules. When I finally did understand it, she was so genuinely excited and high-fived me, and that was a turning point for us! Since then, we have worked together a ton and gotten to know each other very well.
#6: Senior Pinning Night was a really beautiful night where students pledged to their families and the people they love to graduate high school. It was an amazing event and I especially loved meeting some of my students’ families.
#7: My favorite memory is actually many memories, and those are the conversations I’ve had with students and the time I’ve gotten to spend with them so far this year. Whether playing chess or working on applications or talking, I feel so lucky to know them and spend time with them every day.