In continuation of the "TF Spotlight" posts highlighting Citizen Schools AmeriCorps National Teaching Fellows' service experiences our next contribution comes by way of a second year fellow from the Bay State, Minoucheka Frejuste! We hope you take a moment to read Minoucheka's reflections on her Teaching Fellow experience.

Why did you decide to become an AmeriCorps Teaching Fellow? I decided to become an AmeriCorps Teaching Fellow because I wanted to impact students by providing them with the tools that they need to succeed academically. During my primary education, I did not have the privilege of having a person to ensure that I was obtaining all the skills that I needed to flourish in my academics. I come from a family where my parents worked long hours, are not articulate English speakers, and therefore, was unable to support me with my academics. I am passionate about being a source of succor for students who have come from similar backgrounds and for students who are desirous about achieving their goals.

What has been one of the most transformative moments of your service? One transformative moment that I experience during my service is when I helped a student believe in her academic ability. Students were assigned to complete an essay assignment and she was one of the students that earned an excellent grade on the essay. Receiving that grade helped instill belief in herself. She was excited about her success and seeing her excitement gave me great joy and satisfaction. I was able to witness the significance of my service and observe how it impacted her as an individual.

How has service changed you and/or your perspective of the world? As I ponder upon how service has impacted me and my perspective of the world, I can only think about the African proverb that states, “It takes a village to raise a child”. I believe that I would not have the capability to impact most of the students that I serve if I did not have the assistance of others. Working on a team has helped me to obtain resources that I needed and provided me with answers to questions that I had about how I can better impact and teach students. Teaching fellows also serve to help support the schools as a community. As I strive to help students succeed I am also working as a team with the school that I serve in. I realized that I was not only impacting students but I was also working with the school to help achieve student growth and success.