Julie Reid: Service

    Hi! My name is Julie Reid and I am from Seattle, Washington. I am a human physiology major on the pre-physician assistant track. Considering my major I spend a majority of my time studying and doing homework, but I do have a few favorite activities outside of homework. I love spending time outside whether that be walking with a podcast, running, skiing, hammocking, hiking, or just sitting in the sun. I also enjoy reading, hanging out with friends and family, crafts and binging tv shows like new girl and grey's anatomy! I have had the most amazing time being a seton this year and will cherish this experience for my whole life. The friendships I have been able to form and the pure joy I felt giving back to the Spokane community every week has made my sophomore year better than I could have ever imagined.

    The pillar I would like to highlight is service. First semester I got the privilege of volunteering at the Hutton Settlement, which is long term alternative housing for children between the ages of 5 and 18. This meant that every week my small group and I were split up into different cottages and would help tutor the kids for the first hour and would then enjoy a delicious dinner with the kids and house parents. During these dinners we would all go around in a circle and share our highs and lows of the day. As an avid fan of rose, thorn, bud (aka sexy gardener) and reflecting on my day, I found this to be so rewarding. As we spent more time with the kids, they began to say that their rose of the day was having us be there to tutor and hangout with them. Seeing how much these kids looked up to me as a mentor inspired me daily to be the best version of me so I can give them the best person to look up to. 

    I ended up mainly working with a second grade boy who was initially having a very hard time with learning to read, just like how I struggled with reading at his age. As the semester progressed we worked on different site words, putting words together and eventually forming sentences. Towards the end of my time working with him, the host parent challenged him to read a chapter book, which he was able to do perfectly! Watching how proud he was of himself for being able to read the chapter book and witnessing the amount of progress he was able to make gave me so much joy. Knowing I personally had contributed to his success was one of the most rewarding experiences I have ever had.