When Kimmi first began volunteering at the Boys & Girls Club, she didn′t expect to join the staff. ″I needed in–school experiences for a class, but it didn′t fit my work schedule,″ said Kimmi. Instead, her professor allowed her to volunteer in Power Hour at the Boys & Girls Club, where she helped kids with their homework.

″As soon as I started I realized–yeah, I′m supposed to be here,″ Kimmi said. She joined the staff in January and stayed on through the summer. ″I′m an arts minor, so I was in the Arts & Crafts room all summer,″ said Kimmi. ″It was great. I was able to come every day and get to know the kids. And I got to know the staff more too. I felt like I was part of the family.″ Kimmi had to leave her position once the fall semester started up, but plans to come once a week to run Pokemon Club. ″I started Pokemon Club because I saw [one of the kids] with a big binder of cards...I loved Pokemon as a kid, so I was really excited. Turns out a lot of the boys have cards, so I brought mine and we played together.″ ″I saw a whole new mixture of kids I hadn′t connected with yet,″ said Kimmi. ″Arts & crafts was mostly girls.″ Kimmi credits her experiences at the Club with increasing her self–confidence. ″It made me feel like yeah, I can be a teacher. I can be a mom someday. I don′t have to be scared of that.″