Finding Friends Through Zoom by Lauren

Finding Friends Through Zoom by Lauren - April 2022 Scholarship Essay

Around February, my fifth grade teacher emailed me and some of my old classmates and asked if we would be willing to tutor some of her students after school. While I’ll admit that the idea of tutoring kids on zoom didn’t seem very appealing at first, it ended up being one of the most meaningful experiences of my life.
Obviously, COVID-19 was a difficult time for everyone, but I believe that students were an underrepresented victim of the shutdowns. At my first tutoring session, only one student attended. The teacher sent a link to all students telling them that I was open for a certain time slot if they wanted help with their homework or the state reports they were working on at the time. I waited alone in the meeting for a while, wondering if the hour I had set aside for this was even worth it. My doubt was immediately eased when the first student joined the zoom.
“Hi! My name is Lando,” he said excitedly.
“Hi Lando, my name is Lauren. What do you want to work on today?” I replied.
“Oh, I actually don’t need any help, I just wanted someone to talk to. I don’t get to see anybody but the people in my zoom,” he responded.
My eyes immediately filled with tears at this statement. He was so excited to meet someone new he immediately began telling me about my day. It broke my heart that so many students felt this loneliness and hardships while they were so young. From this point on I made it a point to meet with the students as often as I could, with more and more joining the zoom, sometimes to work and sometimes just to talk. We held parties for Valentines Day and St. Patrick's day, and meeting with the students became something I looked forward to every week.
During these sessions, I was a part of an amazing group of fellow students, all with the goal of furthering their knowledge and helping others. We were a group that, even during the midst of COVID, found a way to further our education, and do it in a fun and lively way.
Through this experience, I was encouraged to learn and grow and I helped others learn and grow. I learned collaboration as I worked with fellow peers to create lesson plans and the best ways to help the kids with their projects, patience as I dealt with new and different people, and above all, I became a better person, one who now understands just how much simple kindness can change someone's life.