Do you remember the last time you were just excited about life? When everything felt interesting, even the smallest things? When you had dreams and wild aspirations, and you actually believed they could come true? When you carried around this naïve sense of optimism? Do you remember the last time you felt that spirit of childlike wonder?
I couldn’t. To be honest, I lost it and gave up on finding it somewhere between college graduation and my current job. But after volunteering at an elementary school this past Thursday… I want to start finding it again.
Volunteering at Mountain View School
I took some time off of work to volunteer at Mountain View School, an elementary school that serves a predominantly low-income student population. I met one of the teachers, Jen, at a work barbeque last year. She told me how she left a “good” school to teach here, and how fulfilled she felt teaching her third grade students. That stuck with me, and for somebody who enjoys teaching, I had to see it for myself.
I showed up around 8:15 AM, checked into the attendance office (some scary memories for me…I was a very mischievous kid back in the day), and one of her students came to walk me to class.
Jen introduced me to her class as “Mr. Jerry” and the kids greeted me very excitedly.
The kids were working on PowerPoint presentations about different countries, and I was there to help answer any questions they had about their work. I was secretly hoping someone had picked South Korea so I could ramble about their coffee scene and K-dramas.
Of course, not everyone was focused on their work. Some kids were giggling under pillows or spinning in their chairs. Just full of energy, curiosity, and chaos. If I did that at work, I’d probably get sent to HR. But in that classroom, it felt refreshing.
Easter Egg Hunt but With Math Questions
After about an hour, the kids headed off to art class. While they were getting creative, I worked with Jen and two other third-grade teachers to set up an Easter egg hunt. But this wasn’t your average egg hunt—it had a bit of a twist. Instead of candy, the eggs were stuffed with math problems. The deal was: solve the problem, then you get the candy.
Honestly, it’s a clever way to teach the students… but math in Easter eggs? Feels a little evil if you ask me.
Once we finished setting up, we went to go pick up the kids. We had all of them line up on the basketball court. I was given the honorary role of counting down the kids before they could rush the fields. I remember seeing them all excited and getting antsy. The second I got the thumbs-up from the teachers to start the countdown, the kids took off. They didn’t even wait for it. So I just yelled, “GO GO GO!” as they swarmed the field like a mini stampede. It was really fun watching them run around looking for Easter eggs.
After all was said and done, we walked the kids back to their classroom. Some of them were showing me their candy and toys they won. Apparently, sticky hands are still a popular thing.
One of the kids randomly asked me why I was volunteering. I said I was interested in teaching. She said she wanted to become a teacher. Another kid said she wanted to be a doctor. Hearing them talk about their dreams felt a little foreign to me because I didn’t have any dreams.
The Desire to Develop Childlike Wonder Again
The kids shortly went off to recess. While Jen and I walked back to her classroom, she asked me about my experience working with the kids. So many things were going through my mind that I wasn’t quite sure how to consolidate my answer.
One of the things I told her was how joyful and excited I felt working with the kids. Looking back, it wasn’t just because I was serving and teaching kids—it was also because I was surrounded by people who found anything interesting. People who were excited, even about doing an Easter Egg Hunt with math questions. People who had aspirations. People who questioned everything.
If you were to compare that environment with my own life—the one I’ve built around me—there’s a stark contrast. There aren’t energetic people at work. I don’t surround myself with curious people on a daily basis. I’ve unintentionally isolated myself outside of work and gotten comfortable with living a boring life—one without dreams.
Of course, I know it’s not a perfect comparison—kids in a third-grade classroom and adults in a large corporate office are in completely different stages in life. But I really believe there’s still something about the spirit of childlike wonder that still matters as an adult. That natural curiosity, openness, excitement about the world, and the belief that anything is possible. That wonderment. That awe.
I lost it somewhere along the way.
Lately, I’ve been wondering how I might start finding it again.
