Project Connect

Wesley Kim, Summer 2010

Looking back over the last eight weeks, I realize that I have truly been exposed to an entirely different world than that in which I have been raised. To me, homelessness had only been an idea, and the educational and social stunting that affects children experiencing homelessness I had not realized. I was truly surprised by the explosion of excitement and happiness when we took them to King's Island, the beach, and other city attractions they otherwise would not likely experience. Additionally, it was very gratifying to see how much most of the kids were just craving attention. Although I obviously wasn't able to attend to all of them equally, the ones that I did focus my efforts with showed remarkable improvement in behavior and attitude. Finally, working with 10-12 year-old children is definitely a taxing experience, however physicians must be able to work with people of all ages and races, and I think that if your interpersonal skills allow you to explain concepts to an illiterate 12 year-old, befriend and discipline a disruptive 10 year-old, as well as work with less than receptive adults, you will have more success working with different and difficult patients in the future.

In the end, my understanding of different cultures and lifestyles was vastly expanded by this experience. While my tolerance was also pushed to its limit on several occasions, such an experience is a necessary part of social growth and maturation. Consequently, I think that after a full year of academic development and enrichment, a summer of social growth to complement it was well worth the adventure.