First Day
                                   David Bryan Lao       

          When we arrived at Balara Elementary School, I was excited but also totally afraid; I was smiling on the outside but I was captivated with fear on the inside.

            I went up to the third floor to get my tutee.  When I went there, the teacher told me he was absent so I went to Teacher Yvette and found myself a new tutee.  My new tutee was John Jericho Notilado, a quite shy yet attentive child.  Everything was awkward at first, discontinuous conversations, questions left hanging etc., but then things started working out.  Though he was shy, he was able to tell me a bit about himself and I was glad that he did.  He told me he liked to play basketball and also tag.  He told me he was the fifth of six children.  And lastly, he told me he liked to draw robots.

            We began by finding some common ground and talked about just anything.  Then we began the lessons.  During the lessons, I felt fulfilled.  I always wanted to tutor kids and I could not believe I was already doing it!  

            He had a bit of difficulty with his letters and with his reading so I helped him.  During the mid-session, he shared with me that his mother had a heart disease and that they had no money to buy medicine.  I was speechless, I did not what to say.  After a few moments, I tried comforting him and tried to cheer him up.  At that moment, I realized the plight of many young kids like Jericho.  I began to understand the difficulties children like him go through.  I was thus inspired to become a better teacher so that he could become a better learner and will eventually, be able to help out his family.

            During the last parts, he did kind of get bored so we finished up.  I then took him back to his room and bade farewell. 

            My first day was a wonderful day; I had fun, learned a lot of lessons, had a few realizations and most importantly, had made a friend.  I look forward, then, to the next sessions and hope that I could help Jericho become a better student.