This summer, sophomore Pete Hovan dedicated more than 50 hours to volunteering at the Chinese Immersion camp, We As One Camp. Ze worked with elementary students, leading activities that built up the kids’ Chinese speaking and reading comprehension skills. The camp creates a supportive environment for younger children to freely learn Chinese from older kids.

Hovan was inspired to volunteer to get a better experience in the language of Chinese while learning teaching skills. This camp was Hovan’s first experience of actually teaching Chinese to children. Ze was used to being on the opposite end of the spectrum, as a student. Ze attended Concordia Language Villages in elementary and middle school and enjoyed getting to switch roles and teach what ze had learned.

For Hovan, language camps offer a whole new way of learning a language. “I think even though Chinese class is important to learn the language, it’s also important to get fully immersed in the language,” ze said.

Hovan found the experience enlightening and exciting, but there were challenges. Ze had a hard time with the energy of the younger children and was often exhausted dealing with them. Each day gave new lessons of patience and perseverance forcing zim to adapt and eventually, the kids weren’t a problem. “There were some challenges. I will say, second graders are a bit of a handful,” ze said.

The experience gave Hovan a deeper appreciation for the importance of patience when teaching and learning. By the end of it, ze built stronger teaching skills and also got a sense of fulfillment for helping out younger kids learn Chinese. The challenges turned rewarding and left zim more confident and open to new experiences.

As a volunteer, Hovan was teaching while gaining valuable work experience and lessons. In fact, teaching the kids may have enhanced Hovan’s language learning significantly. “Even though I wasn’t the target audience, I was still able to learn a lot outside of Chinese,” ze said.

Throughout the summer, ze picked up the skill of communicating effectively with younger kids who also taught zim to always be curious and imaginative. The program helped Hovan discover that teaching was as much of a learning experience for zim as it was for the students ze was teaching. Ze was left with an invaluable experience and lasting memories.