Snapshot of Service is an ongoing series dedicated to showcasing the reality of a Peace Corps Volunteer in Thailand. Featuring the small moments, captured in a single image or a series of photos, that may make up the routine and mundane in our daily lives, but are also the essence of what it means to serve.

Here, a student’s drawing inspired a volunteer to write a piece of original poetry.

Wei-Huan Chen, 136 TESS

One of my students drew this and gave it to me on the first week of school

I haven’t gotten to learn her name

Yet she’s already spent the time to remember what I look like

And how to write my name

She put a big smile on my face — 

In her drawing, and in real life

As I hope she learns from me in the coming two years

I too hope to learn from her, from all of them

I hope to learn how to…

… Be kind to them without needing to be nice

… Encourage them to grow without losing their innocence

… And show them a world, starting with me, that opens up to them with English

Show them the new friends, new music, new jokes, new ways of understanding the world, and new ways of relating to other human beings — 

All the gifts we receive 

when we learn a new language

---

Check out the Snapshot of Service series here.