A Few Notes About My Trip to South Bend

After a busy week in which I had two midterms, two essays (one written in English, one written in German), two scholarship presentations, and not enough time for all I want to do, I'm finally getting to spend a bit of time to reflect on my trip to South Bend.

First, the presentation I made on Thursday morning ended up being to the entire student body at South Bend High School (9th to 12th graders), but it went very well. The school itself isn't very large, so it seemed like there were maybe 200-300 students total sitting in the bleachers of Koplitz Fieldhouse.

Typically when I start my presentations, I ask a series of questions to get everyone involved, so I asked how many of the students were planning to attend college. More than 75% raised their hands, which is great. As a teacher told me after the presentation, most of the kids in South Bend have grown in families that have traditionally worked in the timber industry or oyster industry for three or four generations, so the idea of going to college isn't the norm.

On Wednesday night during the community dinner before my presentation to the parents and students, I tried to engage a young guy who was a sophomore at South Bend High School. His parents hadn't gone to college, but they were hoping he'd figure it out and work towards getting out of South Bend.

From our conversation, he wasn't so sure himself.

If anyone's ever tried to engage a kid who's not very interested in talking, you'll know full well the frustration of just trying to get through to them. I started asking basic questions like "What do you like to do outside of school?" and "What's your favorite class?"

The response was "I don't know" and "P.E." He seemed comfortable just giving short answers, so I started asking him more questions like "Where do you see yourself in five years?" and "If there's one thing you could do before age twenty-five, what would that thing be?"

The response: "Uhh...I don't know."

After I finally stopped asking him questions (which I'm sure he appreciated a lot), I concluded two things: one, his parents completely understand that education for him is his only ticket out of South Bend, but they also seemed to think because they hadn't gone to college themselves they couldn't be more straightforward and forceful with it.

Second, the student himself hadn't fully figured out his own goals and ideas, so he was still relying on his parents to help answer a lot of things for him. If his attentiveness from the back of room during the presentation was any indication, I hope he's thought his own goals over a bit more now.

At the school on Thursday morning, of all the students who were at the presentations, the group that surprised me the most was the group of juniors who were taking notes fervently and participating actively throughout the presentation. They had been some of the best participants the night before, so they were excited to have all the answers to the questions already.

Overall, it was a solid trip and seemed to provide the students and school with tools for how to best approach the scholarship process. The general mood seemed to be that South Bend offered little to hope for, so it was a neat opportunity to share my message with them. I really liked the principal/superintendent of the school, but I feel horrendous for having called him the wrong name for the whole two days. For some reason, I confused him with some else...how embarrassing.

After the presentations though, I drove through South Bend to take a few pictures of the area. It really is a neat place.

I took a picture of my motel room again. This time from the outside in the daylight.

It had a nice view of the Willapa Bay.

South Bend High School was just a minute away down the road. I spoke with the principal/superintendent, Mr. Morris (whom I embarrassingly kept calling Mr. Rogers by accident while in South Bend), regarding the scholarship packet for seniors, and it turns out every senior has to complete a profile of the things they do throughout senior year and then use that info to apply to a large number of local scholarships. Every student applies unless he or she opts out of it, so their critical need is taking advantage of large state and national scholarships, which is why I got invited.

Across the street was the Early Learning Center where the GEAR UP coordinator who helped plan my trip worked. The building had crayons in front of it.

On my two and a half hour drive back to Seattle, I stopped by a McDonald's ten minutes out of South Bend and saw a really nice house on the water across from the parking lot. Naturally, I took a picture.

As I drove back, I passed through picturesque areas that you don't see everyday in Seattle.

But you also see the effects of the timber industry on the area too.

Nonetheless, it was a great trip to an area of Washington that I'd never been too, so I am grateful for the chance to have spent some time in South Bend and getting to meet folks whom I sure won't forget.