My First Week of Work!

Having now been removed from the 2013 Bank of America Student Leaders Conference in Washington for a bit over a week, and having spent some time back in the “real world” of computer screens and cubicles, I feel that now is an appropriate time to reflect on my experiences both at work and at the conference.  First, though, let me introduce myself.  My name is Christopher Ackerman and I have been a resident of a small suburb of Boston, Massachusetts for my entire life.  In the fall, I will be attending Boston College with the intent of majoring in Biology.  During high school, I involved myself in myriad volunteer opportunities, ranging from weekly appearances as an educator at the Museum of Science in Boston, to helping organize a three-day leadership conference with the Massachusetts Youth Leadership Foundation.  This summer, I am working at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston, serving in three distinct roles: on Mondays and Tuesdays, I am at the main office in downtown Boston, helping out the development team; Wednesdays and Thursdays are spent at the Charlestown Boys and Girls Club (BGCB has eleven) doing more office work; and Fridays I spend at the same club, but I interact directly with the members.  Phew, what a mouthful!  Anyway, let me begin with my first week of work.

After a brief meet-and-greet with my fellow Bank of America Student Leaders from Boston and our employers, I spent a month and a half waiting to start work.  My supervisor/director/boss, Katie Dunphy, emailed me a few weeks before I started work to let me know where and when to show up for my first day.  And so, on the first day of July, I sprang out of bed bright and early and managed to make it to work on time.  Granted, this feat is not nearly so laudable when paired with the knowledge that my day began at 10:30 in a coffee shop.  Joelle, another Student Leader working at BGCB, and I met with our supervisors, Katie and Liz, to go over our work for the summer.  We had an informal meeting over breakfast and spent the rest of the day in a much more formal new-hire orientation.  I left with an understanding, albeit a modest one, of BGCB’s organization and mission.  Tuesday, much like its predecessor, began with an eager Chris bounding out of bed, rushing to the train station, and showing up at work on time: no breakfast today, though; I arrived at my building promptly at 8:15, only to realize that I had forgotten my keys.  The next half hour was spent sitting outside dejectedly while I waited for a fellow employee to show up and let me in.  Quarter of nine, time to start work!  Except that Katie had told me to show up at ten, and apparently being over an hour early meant I got to spend time catching up on my reading.  As ten rolled around, I began my first “real” day of work.  Ms. Dunphy had me modify some thank-you letters, and I was able to speak to Ryan about the grant-writing process and how to create a grant report.  My modest understanding of the organization was growing, and with it a sense of purpose and value for my work. 

Wednesday was my first day out of the office.  I showed up at the Charlestown Boys and Girls Club at ten, drenched in sweat and ready to start my day.  Mr. Nash, the executive director at Charlestown, kindly gave me a tour and outlined some of the projects he had for me for the summer.  I spent the day creating a master schedule for the club (it is divided into two sections: one for the younger group and the other for teens) and reviewing the Parents Handbook.  Even though the club was nearly empty, it was interesting to see concrete evidence of the development team’s efforts.  Many of the rooms I saw had plaques on them.  I am sure that many of you have seen plaques in buildings before, plaques commemorating the generous donations by so-and-so corporation, etc.  For the first time, though, I had a greater appreciation for these small symbols of philanthropy.  They represented more than just words on a wall; these plaques were the results of hard work on the part of Katie and the rest of the development team to make it possible for BGCB to serve the community.  And, for the first time, I understood that philanthropy is more than just the act of writing a check; by writing a check, the BGCB donors created a music room where members of the Charlestown Club produced their own record and a games room where children played four-square and billiards, ran around with Frisbees, and caused a ruckus.  More than just a place for fun and games, though, the Charlestown Club represented a safe haven for these kids, many of whom came from disadvantaged neighborhoods around the city and only got opportunities to produce music, or play pool because of BGCB. 

Friday was my first day with club members, and despite my different assignment, it had a very similar impact on me as Wednesday.  I was able to speak to some of the members who were there and play games with them.  In the morning, I watched as one of the youngest kids (I can’t remember if he was five or six) played four-square with the pre-teens and repeatedly got himself out.  Instead of laughing or being mean to him, the older members pretended not to notice and let him play on, an act of kindness rewarded by smiles from the young boy.  Before my time with the Boys and Girls Club, I worked at a different summer camp.  Our mornings were typically punctuated by impatient screams while children waited to play board games, or emphatic exclamations about how, “[Insert-name-here] is cheating!” and, “It’s not fair!”  I saw, for the first time, how a melting pot of club members from different social, racial, economic, and generational (BGCB employs older members of the club as staff for the summer programs) backgrounds were able to come together and coexist not only in peace, but in prosperity.  I had anticipated fighting and screaming, but I was met with obedience and appreciation.  These kids, many of whom were underprivileged, were kind, courteous, and helpful.  Whenever I became hopelessly lost, they would point me in the right direction.  The other staff were patient and helped out when I was confused about the goings-on of the clubs.  At the end of the day (my first full shift), I was tired and, again, sweaty, but at the same time energized and enthusiastic about my work. 

When first informed about the different roles I would have at work, I was both apprehensive and apprehensive.  No, that is not a typo; the thought of working with children and bouncing around from desk-jockey to counselor scared me senseless.  I was positively terrified that I would be so busy trying to figure out where I fit in that I would fail miserably at all of my different tasks.  In retrospect, though, I should have been apprehensive and excited.  Experiencing different parts of the organization allowed me to truly understand and value its contribution to the members at all levels.  Without seeing the facilities that the development team helps to fund, the donations that show up in our daily check logs would just be numbers on a page.  On the other hand, without knowing how hard it is to raise money and fund the programs offered by clubs, it would be easy to under-appreciate the work done by BGCB.  Last year, we served over 15,000 of Boston’s youth.  I was warned about misquoting the following statistic, so take it with a grain of salt, but I was told at orientation that 40% of crimes involving a gun in Boston occurred within a mile of a Boys and Girls Club.  Despite the veracity of that statistic (not that it isn’t true, but the actual number may be off), the sentiment remains: BGCB is dedicated to serving members of the community who are most at-risk and establishes clubs in neighborhoods where violent crime is a serious issue.  That being said, working with the kids on Friday allowed me to gain an appreciation for the “why” behind the rest of my work.  Fundraising is great, but it can be hard to appreciate the donations for their impact on the community.  Seeing club members in a warm, welcoming, safe environment made the rest of my job “click”.  Suddenly, time spent staring at a computer screen felt connected and purposeful.  When I was younger, my parents sent me off to summer camp or hired a nanny as they saw fit, but this is not an option for everybody.  Seeing these children experiencing an awesome program funded primarily through philanthropy made me understand why it is important for everyone to get involved.  Philanthropy became more than just a social obligation; while I had volunteered before for school, experience, or because my friends goaded me into it, I now understood that non-profits exist to serve communities that can benefit from their presence, not just because somebody created them on a whim.