It took me awhile to decide what I wanted to write about this week, and after thinking about it for a few days, I realized I absolutely have to write about my kids at DFA. If you’ve talked to me in person at all over the past couple of weeks, you’ve surely heard me gush about how smart, talented, funny, and kind the students in our summer program are. Each one of our seventeen students are incredible, and I am so honored to be sharing space with them.
Since the start of our program, my students have had engaging conversations about food justice, the colonization of Detroit, and how capitalism shapes the food we all eat. They have sold products they made, cooked wonderful meals for all of us to share, and set goals for themselves to do things like vote, plant neighborhood gardens, and put away money for cars and college. They are resilient, hardworking, and motivated to solve big problems. They have asked questions that have challenged us as staff, and have already taught me more than I could ever teach them. They’ve impressed and surprised me every moment of every day.
When I first met my supervisor, she gave me a choice — I could either devote all of my time to my research project, spending most of my time in the office, or I could be a part of summer programming along with doing my research. I chose to be a part of programming, but, despite working with youth in the past, I was nervous. Food justice wasn’t something I knew a ton about. Would I be able to do good work with these students? Did I have the skills necessary to give them anything useful? Would I just be wasting their time? My fears dissipated as soon as I met our kids, though, andI am so thankful that I chose to devote part of my time to them. Last week, at our daily checkout with the students, my supervisor commented on how well I fit in with DFA, and I have to agree. I feel so at home with these students, doing this work that feels meaningful and important. I have found a small family this summer, and I am ridiculously grateful to be a part of it.
