So I was People Watching for Anthro....
I had an assignment where I was supposed to observe nonverbal communication in a public area. I chose my local library because I looooove the library in my town. It's huge, spacious, lined with windows and there's cozy places to sit.
So, I'm at the library watching people and this group of kids sit down at a table next to mine. They're all giggly, kinda loud and spoke in spanish sometimes so they were a little distracting. About a half hour goes by before the only boy tells his three girl friends that they're in a library and they should be quiet.
The three girls are embarrassed and giggle quietly into their hands and one of the girls turns around in her seat to apologize to me!
"I'm sorry we're so loud! Were we bothering you?"
I told them I was studying for an exam (True. Trying out osmosis again. Or whatever the nonwater version of that is. I'm not a bio student!!), but I was procrastinating so I could do some fun things. Like reading (Was reading fanfiction on my laptop). The boy says "No it's not," and I tell him it is if it's the right book. The girls laugh and tell him that's what their teacher says!
The kids are all turned around by now, their whole attention on me and girl number 2 says "Are you in college?"
This is the first time I've ever been asked that (Are you in high school? Are you in running start? Can you vote? Seriously. Kinda annoying.) and I tell her that why yes, yes I am. They're all cute and stuff, and I'm filled with this deep want to tell them everything, what I'm learning what I know, what I can teach them and about the world and I knew that I could make them interested in people and culture and science and books! It was an amazing feeling and my heart felt like it would burst from the way they were looking at me, and I couldn't help but smile at them. But I really did have to go back to writing a paper. So I told them they weren't bothering me that much, and they said great and they went back to talking about school and I wrote the first two paragraphs on my people watching paper.
Several hours later, the kids had gone off to mess around on a computer and I'm drawing on my tablet. The come back and plop themselves at the table they'd been at previously to talk about how the hell they're getting home. One of the girls said her mother would do it, but the boy growls that "that bitch wouldn't do jack."
Somehow they got it all sorted and they waved at me and wished me luck on my studying. I can't help smiling and wave back and they're all super excited and I return to drawing. I hear them still behind me at the door to the library, but I can't make out what they're saying. A moment later they're walking back over to me and sit down at the table stick out their hands at me.
"What's your name?"
"Amelia."
"Hi! I'm..." And they all tell me their names and they ask me if I have a facebook (No, I don't like it, and my classmates think I'm weird.), they like my phone (It's my dad's but he never asked for it back when he lent it to me.), and what's that?
They point to my tablet and I explain to them that I use it to draw on my computer, and I point to my screen to show them what I'm working on. It had the desired affect. They thought it was so cool, they tell me I'm really good and they ask me if I'm an artist. I tell them I am, however I'm going to school to become an English Teacher, but art will always be my passion.
They grin a lot and tell me it was nice meeting me and they all say, "Bye, Amelia!" and my heart swelled again that these kids actually remembered my name.
A few minutes later I hear, "Amelia! Amelia! Amelia!" and I jerk around and look to see who the hell was calling for me. I see a motion in my peripheral vision and I look over to see the kids outside the window, jumping up and down, waving their arms and calling my name. They all yelled "Good Bye!" "Good Luck!" and I waved back and I could barely mouth good-bye back I was smiling so much. They looked back for me. They looked through the window to see if I was there and they sought out my attention.
My heart burst.
I have feelings inside of me and I'm so happy, I'm so happy to have met these kids and for a wild, emotional moment, I knew that I could be an elementary school teacher. Not just a high school teacher. Not just an editor. Not just a tutor. The feelings in my heart, the thoughts in my head and the smile on my face almost brought tears to my eyes and I'm so happy.
I may never see them again, and I may never remember their names, or what exactly they said, but I'll always remember them, and how for the first time in a long, long time, I knew I could be somebody.