Once again, corrupting the youth of America

I had such a cool experience as a mentor for underprivileged kids in New York, I decided to continue something similar here in Cali. Today was my first day as an afterschool tutor at 826 Valencia (aka, the Pirate Store). It’s a Pirate Store in the front and a tutoring facility in the back. What’s not to love?

Just like in New York, I was paired up with a kid who is totally smarter than I am. She’s 7th grade, brilliant, completely adorable, and looks at me with such trusting eyes when I try and answer questions like “What kind of membrane to animal cells have?” and “How do you spell mitochondria?”

Honey, the last time I even thought about animal cells was when I was in 7th grade class, and all I remember was getting sick from eating the cell model we made out of Jello and marshmallows.

I’m not sure how much help I was, but she cracked up at all my jokes (which is the fastest way to my heart) and I was sad to say goodbye. Luckily there will be many more weeks of tutoring to come. Maybe next time I’ll bring a dictionary.