The Coauthors of my Story

This blog post was a bit difficult for me this week, because I had never thought about my life being "coauthored". Thinking about that has really opened my eyes to the different people that have helped shape me into becoming the person I am today, whether our interaction be positive or negative.

 

"Adolescents are in a near constant state of constructing their lives"

 

This quote from the reading stuck out to me because it is so true! People never really stop to think that adolescents are always developing and creating. It's an every day process. Another point that was really well made in the article was that as adults in their lives, we are impacting the way they think about the world, and it is okay if their ideas do not match or conflict the ideas that we believe in.

 

For the assignment we were asked to list 10 people who helped coauthor our lives:

 

1. My parents
2. My grandparents
3. My sister
4. My nephew
5. My cousin Jess
6. Lauren
7. Danny
8. My brother
9. Mrs. Collins
10. Kaylie 

 

It is hard for me to just pick one of these examples and tell you all about how s/he shaped my life because they are all such a huge part of what makes me who I am today. Some of the people I no longer speak to, and some of them I talk to every single day. Some have impacted me in negative ways and showed me what kind of person I want to be by negative example, and some have done the same using positive examples. If I have to choose one, my mom has helped me tremendously. She has impacted my way of thinking more than anyone else on the list. She has always been open minded with me (especially when I came out) and has supported me and had my back throughout everything. She has always let me make my own decisions, while offering guidance and suggestions. That being said, she has also let me make my own mistakes, offering comfort and help instead of "I told you so." She has been a significant coauthor of my life, and on a list of many, she stands out the most.

 



Color Brave vs. Color Blind

Before this, I had previously had a similar discussion about this topic. The idea of being "color blind" never really sat well with me. I think that when some people mention that they are "color blind" they mean it in the best way possible, but the term in itself is insulting and degrading to people of color. Saying that you are color blind is directly ignoring a very big piece of someone's identity. Its pretending a part of them does not exist. To me, that is taking away from the person as a whole. According to Mellody Hobson, who presented the TED talk on being color brave, color blindness is the equivalent to running away from a problem, while being color brave is helping to face the problem head on and create change.

I found another interesting article to back up what Mellody Hobson talked about in her TED talk:

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/holder-america-should-be-color-brave-not-color-blind_796655.html

In regards to the tweet that read:

 "never trust anyone

   who says they do not see color

   this means to them,

   you are invisible"

 





This is extremely important. This has to be understood.

 

In my opinion, this just solidifies the message from the TED talk. I think the tweet is a simple and short way to convey a very important message that so many people do not seem to understand.

 

I have definitely felt invisible before, in regards to be sexuality seeming to be invisible to others. I feel like although it may not be as widespread, having a part of you ignored or denied can make you feel invisible, even if that piece of you isn't a physical attribute that you have. I think that youth spaces like  Youth In Action can really help try to end this invisibility because these members of society-regardless of their age are sharing their stories and their experiences with one another. Awareness can be spread at any age.



Inventory Ideology

After going through the Inventory Ideology, and reading through the Ideology Horoscope, I learned a lot about myself as a future youth worker. I identified most with Critical Youth Development. After reading what was on the horoscope I learned that I identify most with how adults and youth can work together to negotiate and find common ground. Essentially, how the youth and adults can find a way to make the world a better place while working as a unit. I found this interesting due to the fact that I would not have chose this for myself, but the way I answered the questions obviously proved me wrong.

What are the characteristics of a Youth Worker?

According to the reading, there are 7 characteristics of youth work.

Youth work is an educational practice.
- Youth workers try to build relationships with the youth that they work with. Using informal education rather than formal education. Informal education starts with the level that the children are at instead of forcing them to be at a level they haven't reached yet.

Youth work is a social practice.
- Youth workers have to adapt to the practices of the youth they work with. Many youth workers see their job as case-working as we read in the text. Some of the case-working approaches include, providing personal information, giving advice, and giving guidance to the youth. One main thing that I picked up from this section is that youth workers tend to work in groups with youth and try let the peers associate with one another and the worker to reach a common ground.

Youth workers are advocates.
- Youth workers are constantly trying to challenge the idea of social inequality. They are always trying to give the youth who don't have a voice the courage and guidance to find themselves and find their voice. Youth workers need to understand the challenges and pressures that social inequality put on the youth, and be able to work with that. There are youth that seem to be cast aside and forgotten about, and it is the job of youth workers to challenge that.

Youth choose to be involved in youth work.
- Although it is not always the case for schooling, youth more than likely choose to be involved in youth organizations with youth workers. Young people who are given a choice to become involved in organized groups seem to enjoy them more because they are there of their own free will. The biggest piece that I took away from this section is that voluntary attendance is great, it is the quality of the work and involvement that is being worked on during the time spent as a group.

Youth work seeks to strengthen the voice and influence of young people.
-This part seems pretty much self-explanatory. The whole basis of youth work is strengthening the voice of young people. This seems to be the base of youth work as a whole, and youth workers try to work from this base. When young people feel stronger they feel like they can make a difference. Giving young people a voice and helping them find the confidence to use it is really the whole idea of why people become youth workers.

Youth work is a welfare practice.
- One of the main ideas of youth work is that it promotes the "welfare and safety of young people". Youth workers try not to promote a predetermined agenda for kids that they work with. Promoting the education AND the welfare and safety of the youth is one of the most important pieces of youth development.

Youth workers work with young people holistically. 
- Youth workers with with kids because they are just that. I feel like youth workers want to intervene at a time where there is a real chance to make a change and really help with the success of the people that they are working with. They work with the youth and the problems that they have because they feel as though they are equipped to deal with those problems. They understand that the youth are going through tough times more often than not, and so they want to help them and show them how to help themselves.

About Me!

This is my nephew, Grayson. There is nothing I love more than spending time with him. 

This is the boy that I spent my summer with. He makes my smile the biggest.

This is my girlfriend of almost four years, when I'm not spending time with my two favorite boys, I spend time with her. 

Last but not least, this is my favorite sport. It consumes most of my time (which is pretty hard because I spend a lot of time with the people posted above) but I love it nonetheless.

This is an accurate portrayal of how I spent the majority of my summer, but I would not have wanted it any other way :)