Sawyer Ellsworth

Hello, my name is Sawyer Ellsworth. Volunteering has always been important to me and in previous years I have found many ways to help my community. This year with Covid-19 it has been harder to find safe volunteer opportunities, so I am so grateful for the Love of Learning opportunities to not only volunteer, but to build connections within my community. When I think of what it means to do something good, I think about someone doing a nice or helpful thing for another person or group of people and making a difference in their lives. This photo is of one of the many times Rio (my buddy from Love of Learning) and I hung out at Love of Learning on Thursdays. Rio and I did some pretty awesome things. We played games together, we did fun arts and crafts projects, and we learned a lot about important people in history as our final project. Working with Rio gave me experience using empathy. As an example, I had to quarantine for the first week of Love of Learning. I was so worried about Rio being disappointed on the first day, so I emailed him and his parents to let him know that he would be matched with another guide for the first week and I would see him soon. The biggest thing that breaks my heart is bullying. I got to show Rio an inclusive environment in the hopes that he would feel good and show his classmates the same thing. I hope Love of Learning will inspire the buddies to help younger people when they get older because they will remember this program and the importance of mentorship, empathy, and kindness and how to do it themselves. I have found in the past 10 weeks that I really enjoy helping younger people. I enjoy helping kids because I can relate to them and I sometimes know what they are going through.