Family Day

This past Saturday, NYCCD hosted our annual Family Day, in which 200+ children, parents, teachers, and other staff crammed into a well over-capacity gymnasium for a full-on carnival. It was quite a spectacle, complete with face-painting, arts and crafts, animal balloons, and a live band that cranked out kids' songs at maximum volume for almost the entire two hour-long event. Due to my extensive involvement in NYCCD's mental health program (as opposed to our preschool program), I was not as involved in planning and organizing the event as it seems like past fellows have been. The time that I spend at the school has been cut down to 6 to 7 hours per week, and I have not had the opportunity to get to know the children as well as I might have thought at the beginning of my fellowship. However, watching 100 preschoolers dance around like crazy people, their faces decorated with a creative combination of paint, ice cream, and goofy little-kid smiles, would have made anyone feel more than lucky to be witness to the circus unfolding in that old gym--no matter how little time they had spent with the dancers, or how much their fingers were blistered and reeking of latex from the hours spent tying balloon swords in preparation for their arrival. The whole day served to reaffirm the importance for me of finding mission-driven work after my fellowship wraps up in June. It's impossible to be unmotivated or uninspired at work when you have a concrete reminder of what you're working towards--even if that reminder comes in the form of blisters and the ever-lingering smell of balloons.