America Reads Student Spotlight: Jerome Wilson

Hello! My name is Jerome Wilson. I am currently a Junior here at Western New England University majoring in Management Leadership and minoring in ERP/SAP systems. Throughout my years at this University, I have been involved with many organizations. Since freshman year, I have been a part of the Western New England Football Team, an active member of United and Mutually Equal (U&ME), and an active member of the Student Senate, representing the student residents of my campus. This year, I wanted to expand my horizons even more, so I took the opportunity to become a mentor for incoming freshmen as part of a United and Mutually Equal Connections Mentoring Program.

Furthermore, I have had the great honor of working with America Reads. I am currently working with first graders on a weekly basis, and it has been an amazing experience. My perspective on how it would be working with these kids prior to getting hired dramatically changed after actually spending a day with them. Before working for this program, I applied for this job primarily because of the pay it had to offer. I did feel I fit the job description as well, but that was not my main motivation. After my first day working, my viewpoint changed. The way the kids opened up to me and accepted me as not only their tutor, but as their friend, really touched me. After only two days of working with these kids I knew all of their names and I felt I was really able to connect with most of them from a tutor to student basis. From attending bi-weekly meetings with the America Reads Student Coordinators, I found myself answering simple questions in a way that I was really opening up and expressing how much joy working with these students brought to me. Seeing the excitement brought to the faces of these first graders after helping them solve a problem, or even having small talk with them and showing that I was interested and excited about what they had to say really made me feel good inside. Working for America Reads has opened my eyes to how meaningful this program really is.  Helping these first graders means so much more to me now, more than just receiving a paycheck. Assisting these kids is not a walk in the park at times. They are full of energy and can be a handful, especially seeing them after a full day of classes. However, every day I leave from the school I never regret it. Going back to campus knowing I made twenty three students smile, laugh, and more educated is well worth it!