Strengthening the Youth Development Workforce

"Youth Development is a career that focuses on Education, Social Work and Nonprofit Studies. Youth workers get to work in different fields such as after school programs, school-age child care and summer camps".
The text explain the areas that individuals often forget to focus on such as early childhood, after school programs, social and strategic support, and placement support. A lot of parents focus on working and believe that their child is getting all the learning  they need during the school day. Children and youth need to be engaged in after school programs to expand they learning, social skills and public speaking skills.
Whenever someone says to me  What is Youth Development? I simply answer, youth development is a career for individuals who do not want to become teachers, but would like to work with children and youth. While in school, we focus on gaining Education, Social Work  and Nonprofit studies skills. We are trained in different areas to be able to have a great outcome when working with children and youth.

MET High School

I had the opportunity of attending the MET High School ( Justice building) to speak about self-empowerment. I Spoke to a group of twenty girls and told them my story about overcoming bullying in middle school, and anxiety and depression in college. I also told everyone to not give up on their dreams and to never let anyone bring them down. Everyone in life goes through difficult situations and whenever we fall, the only thing left to do is to get up.
The MET

A wish Come True, Inc

     I had the opportunity of attending  A Wish Come True, Inc One Arabian Night Gala. They celebrated thirty-four years of granting wishes to children ages 3 through 18 who have a life-threatening illness and live in Rhode Island and areas of southeastern Massachusetts.I had the opportunity of meeting parents who have lost their children to cancer and now spread awareness. I also met  individuals who overcame life-threatening illnesses.

    since I will be working with children and youth, this event helped me realized that i also need to find a way to support individuals who have lost someone due to an illness or are battling an illness. 
A Wish Come True

Center for Resilience

The Center for Resilience focuses on teaching students how to take care of themselves such as learning techniques to help them fall asleep. They also learn how to take care of others. The main goal of the program is to teach students how to be mindful, to know themselves and know their surroundings.  The students also learn how to empower themselves by doing self-motivation.

The videos were very interesting because watching their testimonies reminded me of how I learned to be my own cheerleader. By the students learning how to be mindful, they change negative behaviors and turn them into positives. One of the teachers mentioned a student who is not good in math. She taught him how to motivate himself by counting with his fingers “I CAN DO THIS”.

As a result, students exercise at home the things they learned in school. When times get difficult, students learn how to not give up with the positive skills learned through The Center for Resilience. I wish I knew about programs like this when I was in middle school, it would have definitely helped with my behavior. 

Activism and the Youth Vote

  This election has been very controversial because it seems like both candidates have done bad and good things. Both candidates have done or have said things that are currently hurting them because people are refusing to vote for them. A few years back, Hillary Clinton was against immigrants, but she has now changed her mind. Even though she has changed her beliefs, people are still using those comments against her and call her a liar. Donald Trump is a great example of “it is not what you say, is how you say it”. Trump has called Puerto Ricans Mexicans and has also said that immigrants are rapist.  Former Miss Universe Alicia Machado from Venezuela was a victim of Trumps words while she was under his contract. He called her miss piggy because she gained weight during her reign. Alicia is now working with Hillary against Donald Trump.

   At this point, nothing is making me want to vote because both candidates spend most of the time arguing. Why must the election be so negative instead of sending a positive message? This election is honestly alienating me away because both candidates do not call my attention.  I certainly feel that I am more informed about the inappropriate things that both candidates have done or have said instead of the good things they would like to do if they become president. I currently feel very disappointed because I wish this election was not so negative. i also feel like they are both focusing too much on immigrants and not on youth. 

Are you voting against you family's beliefs?

What are your thoughts on both candidates?

Who do you think would a better president?

Nakkuta Ch.2

    Context mapping is figuring yourself out, learning from mistakes and what your interests are.  Context mapping also means learning friendship values and how you would like to be seen by the world. Mitch asked Julian to list the various spaces and relationships he must negotiate each day.

Foreclosed Identity: Individuals make decisions without exploring based on parents or guardian ideas.

Achieved Identity:  Individuals know their goals, values and know themselves.

Moratorium Identity:  When individuals explore without making any commitment.

Diffuse Identity: When individuals refuse to explore and become isolated.

                         Academics                             

RIC

YDEV

Graduation

Social

Community Service

Pageants

Friends

Home

Parents

Only child

Unity

Love

A PHILOSOPHY OF YOUTH WORK

Taking the ideology reminded me that I have been promoting positive youth values since 2009. I have always felt that I have the power to change the lives of individuals who believe they are not capable of accomplishing their dreams. Even though I have always felt that I could help others, I felt alone because I believed that I was the only person that wanted to help the youth. My purpose in life is to help youth and even adults to find their talents, have positive attitudes towards themselves, and learn the importance of giving back to their community. At this point in my life, I am very proud of myself for promoting positive values. I believe that everyone has a hidden talent, and my talent is to give back and motivate others to overcome their life struggles.

A question that I thought was interesting from the ideology horoscope is “How can adults and youth work together to negotiate, and make meaning of their worlds? How can they together make the world a better place for all players? I believe that adults need to learn how to respect and understand the youth because they focus on their age and not on their intelligence and interests. I believe that we can all work to make the world a better place by listening, understanding each other and respecting the values of others.