As my graduation approaches, it is time to say goodbye to Earthen Vessels tutoring. Although I have participated in many organizations at Harvard, Earthen Vessels has quietly grown to be one of my favorite activities.

   It was with trepidation that I started tutoring in the fall of my sophomore year. I was inexperienced as a tutor and did not consider myself a natural around younger children. Paired with Diana, a third grader, I wondered how I would manage to teach to an eight-year-old girl growing up in one of the toughest neighborhoods in Boston. Diana's family had moved to the city from Puerto Rico, so we faced the additional challenge of bilingual education. Under the pressure of my own school work, I hoped that I would not be tempted to think the same way when asked “But why do we have to do homework?”

   I quickly found that not only did Diana and I practice multiplication tables and third grade vocabulary together, but that she was sharply observing me. She perceived my strengths and weaknessess. Diana knew that if she started to stray while doing a math problem I would jump in too quickly to correct her. She also knew that I would not let her get away without working through English passages together.

   Diana's English improved over the year as she blossomed from a girl ashamed to speak in front of the group to the spirited friend of everyone on our tutoring day. As she grew more comfortable and aware of what she needed to work on, she in turn recognized similar things that I needed to work on. She had noted that I was a little shy, too. It made me proud to encourage and inspire Diana in her performances for our two community events. In the first, she wrote and recited a poem. In the second she wrote and acted out a skit about how silly we might look when out of our element, such as going to school in a foreign language, but also about how with the right tools we can translate or comprehend the situation.

   Whereas at Harvard I faced the pressure of being lost in a sea of excellence, here at Earthen Vessels tutoring there was a little person waiting to look up to me. The motivation to encourage excellence in her work came from the realization that she actively looked to me for guidance and structure. I learned that I had to project confidence and hope to encourage her to inquire into what was possible. We were both students of life building a little community of our own.