I went to Mrs. Guilan's classroom this morning at Wallenberg to help students with their personal essays and couldn't have had a more positive experience. While the overall quality of the work wasn't what I expected, I really felt I was able to help the kids, and it's a feeling I haven't experienced in a long time. I was surprised how open they were to having a complete stranger sit down and help them out. Especially a scary looking individual like myself (what with my atrocious goatee thing going on these days).

It's unfortunate I have to hold down this full-time job, or else I would be all over every opportunity to get involved. But it was nice to find out that my boss is supportive of these endeavors and may be lenient on similar opportunities in the future from time to time.

—Jaime Flam