Excellence Center Review

When I arrived at the Excellence Center, I was immediately greeted warmly by Ali, the volunteer coordinator and Rafat, the head of the center. Throughout my time there, the warmth never decreased, and I felt as if I was treated like a member of their family.
Being a volunteer teaching English at the Excellence Center means that you take on a number of students each week as pupils, from different backgrounds and with different skill levels. Teaching such a diverse group requires flexibility, and Rafat makes sure volunteers have such flexibility. As a volunteer, one gets the chance to create lesson plans tailored to each students needs. Not only does this help the students learn, but it helps the volunteers grow as teachers.
Another aspect of my experience at the Excellence Center has been learning German from Muaz. I am very lucky to have had this experience because Muaz is truly an excellent teacher. I arrived here with as little knowledge of German as one can have. Nevertheless, Muaz took the challenge of teaching a novice in stride. What I found most effective about his teaching method was that he made students comfortable making mistakes. He did this by pushing us to work hard but reminding us that making mistakes is how you learn. As our lessons came to a close, Muaz gave advice about how to continue learning German that I think will be invaluable as my study of the language moves forward. He has clearly put a considerable amount of thought into the best method of learning German and languages in general. Anyone would be lucky to have him as a teacher.
But the most meaningful part of my time at the Excellence Center was getting to be a part of such a warm community. Rafat excels at building connections with each and every one of the volunteers and at motivating the volunteers to connect with each other. This brings me to what I have loved the most about the Excellence Center. Each week that I have been here we have played football with Rafat, Muaz, and the volunteers that chose to join the game. I am not a skilled football player. For that reason, I was apprehensive about playing in the game. But Rafat and Muaz were encouraging to everybody and made sure that everyone could get involved in the game. This made for great fun and a good opportunity for bonding. All this is to say, if you are considering volunteering at the Excellence Center, I would recommend you go for it, and I recommend you do not skip the football matches while there.