"Octavio showed me that everything we do can influence someone in a special way. I learned that you should never set low expectations for someone, because if you give them your time, any child can succeed"

Before joining Jumpstart, my life revolved around my own interests, my free time, and my needs. More importantly, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. That all changed when I met Octavio, my partner child.

My experience with Jumpstart showed me the influence I could have on someone else.

Every session, Octavio would choose the same book, Green Eggs and Ham. I decided to use my acting skills to bring the characters to life with distinct voices, accents, and gestures. One day, Octavio noticed that there were two copies of Green Eggs and Ham. “Here you go,” he said handing me one of the books. “What are we going to do with that?” I asked. “Read,” he replied.

We sat down and he opened the book. When I started to read the first line, he reached over and opened my copy to the same page. As we continued reading I noticed Octavio was saying something in an angry voice. “What’s wrong, Octavio?” I asked. “I will not eat on train or plane, here or there,” he said, staring at the pictures.

I realized that he was imitating the voices that I had used to read the story to him. He was able to recall all of the key points in the story. He even spoke with the same accents and gestures that I had created for the characters! I never thought that I could engage a child into reading. Octavio was defying those who doubted him: he was reading!

Octavio showed me that everything we do can influence someone in a special way. The things we overlook as small occurrences can be major events to someone else. I also learned that you should never set low expectations for someone, because if you give them your time, any child can succeed.

I always thought that I would need to travel someday to make a difference, but I soon realized that I could make a difference in my own community.