"I DO IT FOR THE RUSH!"
I don’t know about you but I love the honesty of kids. It seems that somewhere along the way as we journey from childhood to adulthood, we lose the ability to be honest. Whether it be due to fear of hurting the other person’s feelings, our own insecurities standing in the way, or simply trying to avoid rocking the boat, as adults our ability to speak the truth becomes a difficult and an often-avoided task. What we were the master of doing at age 5, at age 35 is now a daunting and at times, overwhelming and almost impossible seeming task.
I recently had the opportunity to spend some time reading to a class of 5-year-olds at Burlington Catholic School. As I was going along, one little guy quizzically looked at me and asked, “do you have a sugar rush?” His question completely caught me off guard. I laughed and repeated his question as to buy myself some time to come up with my response. He further stated, “yeah you are talking so fast do you have a sugar rush?” Talking fast? Was I talking fast? I had no idea I was talking fast. I simply replied, “no but I love having the opportunity to be with all of you so much, that I want to read to you as much as possible during our time together, so I guess I am talking a little fast, so I will try to slow down.”
Weeks have passed and that little guy’s question has stuck with me. As it has rattled around in my mind from time to time over these weeks, I’ve realized, it isn’t a sugar rush I was experiencing, rather it is a volunteering rush. The excitement the kids bring, the ability to leave the outside world at the door and focus 100% on something else, sharing my love for reading, receiving honest feedback, simply being there because I want to be there not because I feel I should or I must, all create an excitement, or rush that in the mind of a 5-year-old could only be equated to that of eating sugary foods.
I love that CSB provides us the opportunity to donate monetarily to a non-profit of our choice through the Gift 2 Giving program. I have chosen to donate my funds this year to Burlington Catholic School. I do so because it is there, at Burlington Catholic School, I receive, my much needed, “volunteer rush”.
Journal Entry by: Kim Ligocki, Vice President & Human Resources Director
Contributing CSB Employees: Kim Ligocki, Jackie Kolbeck