Event # 1

On Saturday September 2, I attended the Resident Assistant Leadership Conference at Providence College. The conference included multiple different sessions centered around leadership and learning. Many of the sessions were both interesting and useful; I gained valuable insights and learned various worthwhile skills.

 But the session that I actually took the most from was a session about keeping a positive attitude while facing adversity. The session was presented by a young college student who has spent the majority of his life in a wheel chair. He talked about the many challenges that he has faced over his so-far short lifetime. He also spoke about how he has gotten used to people treating him differently at first. He said that oftentimes people do not understand how to interact with him, but he is patient and willing to help them.

His speech reminded me very much of what Nakkula wrote about in chapter two. He told us all about his journey through adolescence and how difficult it was for him to find his place in the world around him. This is difficult for anyone, but it was especially difficult for him. It sounded to me like he had reached a point of achieved identity because he is now at peace with his place in the world and the life he wants to live. But he said it did not come easy. He went through a lot of struggle and turmoil before he got to that point.

More on Marcia's theory here: http://www.learning-theories.com/identity-status-theory-marcia.html

Challenges for adolescents in wheel chairs: http://www.christopherreeve.org/site/c.mtKZKgMWKwG/b.5380887/k.B2E1/BacktoSchool_What_it_Means_When_Youre_Using_a_Wheelchair.htm

RW Video

I really enjoyed the video! It was definitely enlightening listening to all of these youth, and their parents, talk about the experiences they have been having within schools. I had no idea the extent to which some of these students struggle during the school day. I was even quite frankly shocked by the way some of the teachers treat their students! It's bad enough that adolescents in general have a hard time navigating these transitional years and discovering their self-identity. But it is even more difficult for students who are coming from different cultures that may not be the norm.

I think this video taught me that it is important to celebrate diversity inside and outside of the classroom. Especially for adolescents who are at an extremely integral time in their lives, it is important for youth to celebrate and embrace their culture and to have it accepted by others.

http://www.slideshare.net/butlerm2/diversity-6483240

Nakkula Ch. 2

Nakkula speaks a lot about a person's different identities within different contexts. People generally have one true version of themselves, but most likely will tend to make small changes here and there in the way they may act around different groups of people or in different places. This is the natural process of figuring out how we fit in with the rest of the world and the people around us. Adolescence is the time where young people are especially going through this self-discovery state. Teenagers may 'try on' different versions of themselves to see which one fits the best. It can be difficult to navigate these uncertain waters in a world full of different places and people. Julian was going through a good deal of anxiety and stress in concern to his identity. He was torn between who to be with all of his different groups. After the tagging incident, Mitch asked Julian to think about all of the different contexts in his life and to think about when he feels safe, or anxious, or uneasy. He then asked him to draw a superhero with the superpowers that it would take to go through all the challenges Julian was currently facing. In essence, Mitch was asking Julian to make a context map.

Here is my context map:

RIC: classes, professors, school friends
RA: new hall residents, RA staff, supervisors
Res Life Office: other workers, clients, staff, supervisors
AE (work): coworkers, supervisor, customers
L4L: coworkers, supervisors, clients
Social: RA friends, resident friends, home friends, class friends, work friends

4 Different Identities:

Foreclosed Identity: A foreclosed identity is one in which there was no experimenting to find yourself. This identity is just accepted without question. It may be thrust upon you by family or circumstance, and it is just followed without challenge. But you are fully committed to this identity which you may or may not have chosen for yourself.

Diffuse Identity:  There is no crisis of commitment to one particular identity. There has been little exploration or consideration of one's identity. A person with a diffuse identity is likely to be easily influenced by others and can rapidly change identities.

Identity Moratorium: A person in moratorium is actively searching for different roles and beliefs but does not yet make a commitment to a particular identity. This stage often comes with much anxiety as an individual struggles with figuring out their true identity.

Achieved Identity The crisis of identity is resolved and commitment to the achieved identity is very high. This is usually brought about by an intense period of searching, and now results in an achieved identity status.

Resilient Kids

Before watching the video and reading the Resilient Kids website, I did not really know much about what the organization did. I basically only knew that it was an organization focused around yoga and mindfulness. But after learning the details of the organization and program, I think that this organization really has the right kind of idea. Listening to the kids talk about how this type of program has helped them in not only their academics, but all around was really cool to hear. I think that this type of program is really innovative and extremely creative. Best of all it seems to be effective, which is awesome!

They made a lot of good points in the video. The point that really stuck out to me the most was when they were talking about how kids are constantly bombarded with images, and information from everywhere-tv, the internet, video games, etc. There are lights and flashes coming from every direction and their minds must be going crazy and hyper-aware all of the time. It can be extremely difficult to come down from that kind of stimulation. I think that it is often difficult for teachers or youth workers to get their students to calm down and focus on the task at hand, and proceeding without achieving this focus is simply fruitless. The yoga and mindfullness sessions seem to really help with that, and I think it is an awesome program!

I think that Resilient Kids sounds like a really great program and that these types of programs should be more widely offered and available to kids everywhere! I think it would meet with great success!

Nakkula Ch 1

A recurring theme throughout this chapter was the idea of co-authorship-that an individual's personality, thoughts, ideas, thinking process is not only shaped by their inner self but also by their environment and the people they are surrounded by. Often preconceived ideas can affect how we interpret others' behavior and then in turn affect our own actions, such as in the example with Ms. Petersen and Antwon. It can be difficult to put aside these preconceived notions, but it is important to try.

 I think this is a really important concept for youth development and for youth workers because we have to keep in mind that every thing we do, or do not do, is affecting the youth around us. Every word that we say or action that we take has a positive or negative impact on the youth that we are working with. This in turn helps to shape that youth into the person they are to become by influencing their thinking and behavior.

Egg Drop Connections

After reading Ulucci's article and then doing an accompanying activity of an 'egg drop', the effects of poverty on youth become more apparent.  Ulucci proposes that youth growing up in poverty and living in impoverished neighborhoods are at a serious disadvantage compared to their more affluent peers. These youth face many challenges that are not faced by others from more privileged backgrounds. Schools in poorer districts just do not have the funding for supplies, updated classrooms, even enough teachers.

The egg drop activity was symbolic of the advantages and disadvantages of different groups of people. From living in different communities, to different socioeconomic status, to different races and ethnicities, different groups of people have different opportunities. The class was split into different groups; some groups had more than enough supplies to successfully protect their eggs while other groups worked with the bare minimum. The group that had plentiful supplies didn't really have to worry about anything. They were really laid-back and easy going; they had no doubts that their egg would survive. They even enjoyed eating some of their extra marshmallows. But the group with the least amount of supplies had to work really hard just to make something that might possibly help, but they really didn't have much confidence in what they had put so much hard work into.

This activity really illustrates that gaps between social classes or different groups of people. Some people have plenty of resources and barely need to stress about anything and still know that it's going to work out. But other people have to work hard every step of the way and still have trouble succeeding with the resources or opportunities that they have (or rather the lack thereof). Basing my concluding off of this activity, I would have to say that access plays a very strong role in someone's success. Hard work is also an important aspect of achievements, but without certain opportunities it doesn't matter how hard you work, you could still get nowhere. I agree that working hard is extremely important, but for some people, they work as hard as they can and still not be presented with the opportunities that other people get. It is only when hard work meets opportunity that success can follow.

 

Ullucci-Urban Education

Ullucci talked about the impact that poverty has on youth today. One major point was that youth poverty often face resegregation. This resegregation comes about because many neighborhoods are separated by different classes, with certain areas being wealthier areas and other areas being poorer sections. While being divided by class, these neighborhoods also tend to be separated by race. It just so happens that usually the poorer neighborhoods are inhabited by minorities. Since schools are separated according to geographical area, the poor, minority students all end up going to the same schools. Some schools and communities today end up being even more segregated than in the past which was really kind of surprising for me to hear; it's something I hadn't really thought much about.

Poorer conditions in these neighborhoods and schools also lead to higher health risks for youth for multiple reasons. Families can not afford proper medical and dental insurance so children are often going without. Also older, poorer schools and buildings were often made with lead paint which is harmful.

I think that poverty can impact youth development in many ways. First of all I feel that poverty in communities creates a larger need for youth development programs because youth in these neighborhoods may not have anything else to do after school hours. Many families can not afford to pay for sports or activities that cost money for their children. Also many of these youth are not being reached through their schools and really need enrichment through youth development programs. I think that effective youth development programs could make a huge impact on the youth in poor communities.

On the other side I would think that poorer communities may not have the funding to support as many youth development programs as other more affluent communities. It is sad that the communities that need empowering programs like this don't always the means or the resources to get them. But wealthier communities who may not need these programs as much have more than the resources necessary to support them.

I honestly am not sure which type of communities I see myself working in. I think that I would like to work with college-age youth. There are many different types of college campuses all located within various communities. Also the student population at many colleges can come from very diverse backgrounds, so it's hard to say right now.