Nathalya Leon

10 January 2019

​ In my US history and public health course, I was given the opportunity to help our local
elementary school by teaching children how to properly wash their hands. Walking into
Mrs.Allebe's kindergarten class, absurdly enough, all I could think about was how nervous I was
to read to a room full of children. After scaring children into washing their hands by applying
"Glo Germ" to their tiny hands, I dried their hands and rewarded them with a sticker. There was
one child in particular who had caught my attention because his shoelaces were untied. I offered
to tie them and he shyly nodded his head yes. I was unable to tie them though because the ends
of his shoe laces were so frayed that I couldn't thread the shoelace through the eyelets of his
almost completely undone shoe, all I could do was tuck the laces into the insides of his shoe. I
slowly arose and smiled at the bashful child. I furtively watched the boy as he sat down amongst
his classmates on the rainbow carpet, he sat alone and ashamed in the center of all the other
children gently rocking back and forth tightly clutching his shoes between his hands so that the
soles didn't peel away. I was heartbroken. It was sad to witness, as no child should have a care in
the world. I went on that day to the next three classrooms assigned to me with a heavy burden on
my heart. The following day I emailed Mrs.Allebe asking if the boy's parents would allow me to
purchase him a new pair of shoes, and after couple of weeks went by, to my relief, she replied
informing me that his parents agreed to let me do so. Overcome with excitement, I immediately
went to the nearest shoe store and purchased the three best pairs of shoes they had to offer to a
kindergartener. I wrapped them up in festive wrapping paper and dropped them off at the front
office of Phelan elementary. I walked away that day with my heart singing with joy. Though I
was never allowed to learn the name of the boy with the tattered shoes, I was content because I
knew that he would be able to run and play with the other children without having to worry about
his shoes falling apart.
Although I may have only impacted one child's life that Christmas season, Phelan Elementary
became a better place because they had one more carefree child.