The Necessary Background

To understand this blog, your first need to know the basic info about me, and about my job.

-My name is Jen.
-I am a rising junior at Boston College.
-During my sophomore year, I took a class at BC called Personal and Social Responsibility, which is referred to as PULSE.
-PULSE is a very different kind of college class. It counts as both a Philosophy and Theology class. It also counts as a 6 credit class but you only attend class during the week as much as a regular 3 credit class. Along with going to class during the week, you also volunteer at a year-long community service placement somewhere in the city of Boston.
-Placements range from afterschool programs, to homeless shelters, to suicide hotlines, to centers for people with HIV/AIDS. All of the placements work with people in need, or work to rectify some sort of social injustice. Every PULSE student works at their placement 10-12 hours a week.
-Your grade for the class counts twice on your report card (aka, do well and it really helps your GPA, do not so well and it kills it). 60% of your grade comes from the papers, tests, and quizzes that you complete in class, and 40% of your grade is given to your teacher by your placement supervisor in accordance with how well you performed your duties at your placement.
-My placement for the year was at Saint Stephen's Afterschool Program in the South End.
-Saint Stephen's in an Episcopal parish that is open every day after school from 230-530. Kids K-8 can come for enrichment classes, sports, snack, and homework help.
-Kids are split into two programs: LEARN, which is K-5 and YLC, which is 6-8.
-Saint Stephen's is located right next to the villa Victoria housing project. In the Villa Victoria, seventy-two percent of the residents are Latino, fifteen percent are Asian, twelve percent are African-American, and one percent are Caucasian. Fifty-two percent of the people who live in the Villa Victoria are under the age of 21. Of the forty-eight percent of the Villa Victoria population who are adults, forty-seven percent never completed high school. Seventy-seven percent of the Villa Victoria households are single parents, and sadly, eighty percent of the households live at or below the poverty line. As for the entire South End/ Roxbury area of Boston, there are twenty-eight thousand residents, and the median income is $41,000. Twenty-four percent of the entire South End/ Roxbury area lives in poverty.
-Most of the children who attend Saint Stephen's attend some of the worst public schools in Boston. 60% of Saint Stephen's attendees go to Blackstone Elementary, which is down the street and was recently named the second worst public school in Boston.
-Saint Stephen's philosophy is to build a community in which everyone feels safe, feels big and feels connected.
-During the summer, Saint Stephen's, along with six other sites, runs basically the same program but as a summer camp so kids have somewhere to go when school is not in session.
-BSAFE summer camp at Saint Stephen's runs every day from 830-4 for five weeks for 120 children (60 LEARN and 60 YLC). Each day at Saint Stephen's consists of a morning of rotations (word class, numbers club, fitness class, art, tech, etc.) followed by lunch and DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) time. Every afternoon consists of a field trip somewhere in Boston (sprinklers, museums, parks). Every Friday is a full-day field trip outside of Boston.
-At the end of my volunteer year at Saint Stephen's, I was offered the job as a lead camp counselor at BSAFE. Although I live in CT, I love the place so much that I couldn't pass up the opportunity. So here I am!