Each Thursday and Friday, Tashi McClain gets to interact with kids on a one-on-one basis, while going on fun field trips, such as a trip to a Halloween corn maze. After hearing about Youth Life on a freshman year field trip with one of her classes, Tashi, a Lipscomb University senior, studying law, justice and society, and a member of her school’s Phi Alpha Delta, later came across Youth Life again and decided to take action. She has been volunteering in YLLC West’s middle school classroom for the past year and a half. Although the days of the week have varied due to the class schedule that semester, Tashi’s mission is the same– to encourage the students that they can succeed. She says that when the students complain about work being too difficult or too long, rather than sugar-coating it, she tells students that homework only gets more difficult when you get to college and that understanding the foundation for education will help them later. Encouragement from students not to give up is sometimes all they need, no matter their circumstances.
“I want to be an example for them [communicating to them] that no matter what background you are from, you can do whatever you want to do. I came from a single-parent home like many of the YLLC students… even though I fell under that statistic, I didn’t let that stop me from reaching my goals.”
Tashi is truly one who sets an example for those at Youth Life. When students see that she is still able to volunteer at the centers twice per week to help students with their homework, they too feel they can step it up. Tashi would like to invite others to volunteer with her at Youth Life Learning Centers.
“Give it a chance,” she says. “You can’t change the world, but you can make a difference with one student at a time. You don’t need to come every day, but if you change one life, they can change other lives. You can start the chain and think about the greater good. And it honestly doesn’t take a lot, even if it’s only one or two hours per week.”
Youth Life Learning Centers 