"How lovely to think that no one need wait a moment: we can start now, start slowly changing the world! How lovely that everyone, great and small, can make a contribution toward introducing justice straight away." Anne Frank
Monday, October 3, 2011
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Be a Glass Polisher
Below is a blog post from CampusTalkBlog.com (one of my favorites). Are you a glass polisher or are you tossing "waste" aside? Both can change the world for someone, choose to be a Glass Polisher.
Be a Glass Polisher
By Dave "Gonzo" Kelly
I have had a lot of mentors in my life, people that I look up to, people who encouraged and supported me. They could have easily pushed me aside or told me I was never going to succeed, but they took an interest in me, and that has made all of the difference in my life. My friend, Dr. Jeanine C. Long, a Licensed Professional Counselor and Director of Career Placement and Development at Southwest Georgia Technical College in Thomasville, GA has had a similar experience. She sent me the following in response to my on-going request for people to send in their own stories of success, mentors, triumphs and more.
Glass Beach used to be a public dump. Refuge was thrown off the cliff and into the ocean including old cars, household garbage, and a lot of glass. In 1967, the dump, located in Ft. Bragg, California, a little coastal town in the northern part of the state, was closed. At first, the beach was a natural disaster but after years of pounding surf, tons and tons of polished glass looking like priceless gems were deposited on the shore.
In the 1990s, Glass Beach was reopened to the public. In the summer of 2006, I found myself sitting on its shoreline and I realized that my life was like this polished glass! No one had given me hope for college. My high school counselor even told me, “You will never get accepted by a college, but if by fluke you do, you will never make it. You just don’t have what it takes.”
Well, I did get accepted and it was by my first-choice college! However, I left after my freshman year. I felt ruined, worthless, and tossed away. Storms, rough waves, and circumstances made me feel like the pieces of glass that had been dumped into the ocean: broken.
Two years later, a single mom with a minimum-wage job, I returned to college. What happened to me those next few years was nothing short of a miracle. As I weathered the storms and was tossed by the waves, my life was being polished. Back then, I didn’t recognize what was happening to me as instructors, mentors, and peers washed me to shore as a shining gem. I was no longer broken trash.
The jar of polished glass on my desk reminds me of where I came from. Without the storms, waves, and pounding, that glass would be just glass. But want a difference adversity can make in a broken life!
Do you toss others aside as trash and broken refuse? Or, do you push them forward, gently brushing off and reshaping sharp, jagged edges, allowing their scratched lives to shine? I choose to be a glass polisher.
I would love to hear your story, too. Please take a moment to comment here with your story. And then, why not drop a note to one of your mentors to thank them for being a glass polisher for you?
I wasn’t kidding! I really do want to write about YOU in a future blog post! Tell me how you have overcome obstacles, achieved goals, or surpassed the expectations of others—especially those who may have underestimated you. If you want to tell me your story, but don’t want me to publish your name, I can do that too!
Be a Glass Polisher
By Dave "Gonzo" Kelly
I have had a lot of mentors in my life, people that I look up to, people who encouraged and supported me. They could have easily pushed me aside or told me I was never going to succeed, but they took an interest in me, and that has made all of the difference in my life. My friend, Dr. Jeanine C. Long, a Licensed Professional Counselor and Director of Career Placement and Development at Southwest Georgia Technical College in Thomasville, GA has had a similar experience. She sent me the following in response to my on-going request for people to send in their own stories of success, mentors, triumphs and more.
Glass Beach used to be a public dump. Refuge was thrown off the cliff and into the ocean including old cars, household garbage, and a lot of glass. In 1967, the dump, located in Ft. Bragg, California, a little coastal town in the northern part of the state, was closed. At first, the beach was a natural disaster but after years of pounding surf, tons and tons of polished glass looking like priceless gems were deposited on the shore.
In the 1990s, Glass Beach was reopened to the public. In the summer of 2006, I found myself sitting on its shoreline and I realized that my life was like this polished glass! No one had given me hope for college. My high school counselor even told me, “You will never get accepted by a college, but if by fluke you do, you will never make it. You just don’t have what it takes.”
Well, I did get accepted and it was by my first-choice college! However, I left after my freshman year. I felt ruined, worthless, and tossed away. Storms, rough waves, and circumstances made me feel like the pieces of glass that had been dumped into the ocean: broken.
Two years later, a single mom with a minimum-wage job, I returned to college. What happened to me those next few years was nothing short of a miracle. As I weathered the storms and was tossed by the waves, my life was being polished. Back then, I didn’t recognize what was happening to me as instructors, mentors, and peers washed me to shore as a shining gem. I was no longer broken trash.
The jar of polished glass on my desk reminds me of where I came from. Without the storms, waves, and pounding, that glass would be just glass. But want a difference adversity can make in a broken life!
Do you toss others aside as trash and broken refuse? Or, do you push them forward, gently brushing off and reshaping sharp, jagged edges, allowing their scratched lives to shine? I choose to be a glass polisher.
I would love to hear your story, too. Please take a moment to comment here with your story. And then, why not drop a note to one of your mentors to thank them for being a glass polisher for you?
I wasn’t kidding! I really do want to write about YOU in a future blog post! Tell me how you have overcome obstacles, achieved goals, or surpassed the expectations of others—especially those who may have underestimated you. If you want to tell me your story, but don’t want me to publish your name, I can do that too!
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Sunday, July 24, 2011
67 Ways To Change Our World
67 Ways To Change Our World
On Monday 18th July Tata Madiba will celebrate his 93rd birthday. In November 2009 The United Nations officially declared the 18th of July Mandela Day. It is more than a celebration of Madiba's life and legacy; it is a global movement to take his life’s work into a new century and change our world for the better. Mandela Day asks us all to embrace Madiba’s values and honour his legacy through an act of kindness. Below, you will find 67 ways to help you get started and perhaps live everyday as Mandela Day.
2. Read to someone who can’t. Visit a local home for the blind and open up a new world for someone else.
3. Fix the potholes in your street or neighbourhood.
4. Help out at the local animal shelter. Dogs without homes still need a walk and a bit of love.
5. Find out from your local library if it has a story hour and offer to read during it.
6. Offer to take an elderly neighbour who can’t drive to do their shopping/chores.
7. Organise a litter cleanup day in your area.
8. Get a group of people to each knit a square and make a blanket for someone in need.
9. Volunteer at your police station or local faith-based organisation.
10. Donate your skills!
11. If you’re a builder, help build or improve someone’s home.
12. Help someone to get his/her business off the ground.
13. Build a website for someone who needs one, or for a cause you think needs the support.
14. Help someone get a job. Put together and print a CV for them, or help them with their interview skills.
15. If you’re a lawyer, do some pro bono work for a worthwhile cause or person.
16. Write to your area councillor about a problem in the area that requires attention, which you, in your personal capacity, are unable to attend to.
17. Sponsor a group of learners to go to the theatre/zoo.
19. Help out at your local hospice, as staff members often need as much support as the patients.
20. Many terminally ill people have no one to speak to. Take a little time to have a chat and bring some sunshine into their lives.
21. Talk to your friends and family about HIV.
22. Get tested for HIV and encourage your partner to do so too.
23. Take a bag full of toys to a local hospital that has a children’s ward.
24. Take younger members of your family for a walk in the park.
25. Donate some medical supplies to a local community clinic.
26. Take someone you know, who can’t afford it, to get their eyes tested or their teeth checked.
27. Bake something for a support group of your choice.
28. Start a community garden to encourage healthy eating in your community.
29. Donate a wheelchair or guide dog, to someone in need.
30. Create a food parcel and give it to someone in need.
32. Mentor a school leaver or student in your field of expertise.
33. Coach one of the extramural activities the school offers. You can also volunteer to coach an extramural activity the school doesn’t offer.
34. Offer to provide tutoring in a school subject you are good at.
35. Donate your old computer.
36. Help maintain the sports fields.
37. Fix up a classroom by replacing broken windows, doors and light bulbs.
38. Donate a bag of art supplies.
39. Teach an adult literacy class.
40. Paint classrooms and school buildings.
41. Donate your old textbooks, or any other good books, to a school library.
43. Clean out your cupboard and donate the clothes you no longer wear to someone who needs them.
44. Put together food parcels for a needy family.
45. Organise a bake sale, car wash or garage sale for charity and donate the proceeds.
46. To the poorest of the poor, shoes can be a luxury. Don’t hoard them if you don’t wear them. Pass them on!
47. Volunteer at your local soup kitchen.
49. Help the kids with their studies.
50. Organise a friendly game of soccer, or sponsor the kids to watch a game at the local stadium.
51. Coach a sports team and make new friends.
52. Donate sporting equipment to a children’s shelter.
53. Donate educational toys and books to a children’s home.
54. Paint, or repair, infrastructure at an orphanage or youth centre.
55. Mentor someone. Make time to listen to what the kids have to say and give them good advice.
57. Learn the story of someone older than you. Too often people forget that the elderly have a wealth of experience and wisdom and, more often than not, an interesting story to tell.
58. Take an elderly person grocery shopping; they will appreciate your company and assistance.
59. Take someone’s dog for a walk if they are too frail to do so themselves.
60. Mow someone’s lawn and help them to fix things around their house.
62. Donate indigenous trees to beautify neighbourhoods in poorer areas.
63. Collect old newspapers from a school/community centre/hospital and take them to a recycling centre.
64. Identify open manhole covers or drains in your area and report them to the local authorities.
65. Organise the company/school/organisation that you work with to switch off all unnecessary lights and power supplies at night and on weekends.
66. Engage with people who litter and see if you can convince them of the value of clean surroundings.
67. Organise to clean up your local park, river, beach, street, town square or sports grounds with a few friends. Our children deserve to grow up in a clean and healthy environment.
This list was compiled by The Nelson Mandela Children's Foundation
A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination.1. Make a new friend. Get to know someone from a different cultural background. Only through mutual understanding can we rid our communities of intolerance and xenophobia.
2. Read to someone who can’t. Visit a local home for the blind and open up a new world for someone else.
3. Fix the potholes in your street or neighbourhood.
4. Help out at the local animal shelter. Dogs without homes still need a walk and a bit of love.
5. Find out from your local library if it has a story hour and offer to read during it.
6. Offer to take an elderly neighbour who can’t drive to do their shopping/chores.
7. Organise a litter cleanup day in your area.
8. Get a group of people to each knit a square and make a blanket for someone in need.
9. Volunteer at your police station or local faith-based organisation.
10. Donate your skills!
11. If you’re a builder, help build or improve someone’s home.
12. Help someone to get his/her business off the ground.
13. Build a website for someone who needs one, or for a cause you think needs the support.
14. Help someone get a job. Put together and print a CV for them, or help them with their interview skills.
15. If you’re a lawyer, do some pro bono work for a worthwhile cause or person.
16. Write to your area councillor about a problem in the area that requires attention, which you, in your personal capacity, are unable to attend to.
17. Sponsor a group of learners to go to the theatre/zoo.
Help out for good health
You will achieve more in this world through acts of mercy than you will through acts of retribution.18. Get in touch with your local HIV organisations and find out how you can help.
19. Help out at your local hospice, as staff members often need as much support as the patients.
20. Many terminally ill people have no one to speak to. Take a little time to have a chat and bring some sunshine into their lives.
21. Talk to your friends and family about HIV.
22. Get tested for HIV and encourage your partner to do so too.
23. Take a bag full of toys to a local hospital that has a children’s ward.
24. Take younger members of your family for a walk in the park.
25. Donate some medical supplies to a local community clinic.
26. Take someone you know, who can’t afford it, to get their eyes tested or their teeth checked.
27. Bake something for a support group of your choice.
28. Start a community garden to encourage healthy eating in your community.
29. Donate a wheelchair or guide dog, to someone in need.
30. Create a food parcel and give it to someone in need.
Become an educator
Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.31. Offer to help out at your local school.
32. Mentor a school leaver or student in your field of expertise.
33. Coach one of the extramural activities the school offers. You can also volunteer to coach an extramural activity the school doesn’t offer.
34. Offer to provide tutoring in a school subject you are good at.
35. Donate your old computer.
36. Help maintain the sports fields.
37. Fix up a classroom by replacing broken windows, doors and light bulbs.
38. Donate a bag of art supplies.
39. Teach an adult literacy class.
40. Paint classrooms and school buildings.
41. Donate your old textbooks, or any other good books, to a school library.
Help those living in poverty
Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all.42. Buy a few blankets, or grab the ones you no longer need from home and give them to someone in need.
43. Clean out your cupboard and donate the clothes you no longer wear to someone who needs them.
44. Put together food parcels for a needy family.
45. Organise a bake sale, car wash or garage sale for charity and donate the proceeds.
46. To the poorest of the poor, shoes can be a luxury. Don’t hoard them if you don’t wear them. Pass them on!
47. Volunteer at your local soup kitchen.
Care for the youth
There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children.48. Help at a local children’s home or orphanage.
49. Help the kids with their studies.
50. Organise a friendly game of soccer, or sponsor the kids to watch a game at the local stadium.
51. Coach a sports team and make new friends.
52. Donate sporting equipment to a children’s shelter.
53. Donate educational toys and books to a children’s home.
54. Paint, or repair, infrastructure at an orphanage or youth centre.
55. Mentor someone. Make time to listen to what the kids have to say and give them good advice.
Treasure the elderly
If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.56. If you play an instrument, visit your local old-age home and spend an hour playing for the residents and staff.
57. Learn the story of someone older than you. Too often people forget that the elderly have a wealth of experience and wisdom and, more often than not, an interesting story to tell.
58. Take an elderly person grocery shopping; they will appreciate your company and assistance.
59. Take someone’s dog for a walk if they are too frail to do so themselves.
60. Mow someone’s lawn and help them to fix things around their house.
Look after your environment
I dream of the realization of the unity of Africa, whereby its leaders combine in their efforts to solve the problems of this continent. I dream of our vast deserts, of our forests, of all our great wildernesses.61. If there are no recycling centres in your area, petition your area councillor to provide one.
62. Donate indigenous trees to beautify neighbourhoods in poorer areas.
63. Collect old newspapers from a school/community centre/hospital and take them to a recycling centre.
64. Identify open manhole covers or drains in your area and report them to the local authorities.
65. Organise the company/school/organisation that you work with to switch off all unnecessary lights and power supplies at night and on weekends.
66. Engage with people who litter and see if you can convince them of the value of clean surroundings.
67. Organise to clean up your local park, river, beach, street, town square or sports grounds with a few friends. Our children deserve to grow up in a clean and healthy environment.
This list was compiled by The Nelson Mandela Children's Foundation
Friday, July 8, 2011
From Soup Kitchens to Dining Room Tables
“Today it is very fashionable to talk about the poor. Unfortunately, it is not fashionable to talk with them.” Mother Theresa
In 2006-2007, I lived in Camden, NJ. I was there with the volunteer organization Mission Year. Most of my mornings were spent at Frank's, a homeless day shelter, while my afternoons were spent working with Urban Promise, an after school program. However, the nights are what provided a real sense of community and hospitality.
Many evenings were spent at the Walter Rand Transportation Center hanging out with homeless folks and eating donuts while listening to football games on the radio. On various other nights, our home hosted at lot of dinner parties. The guest list included church clergy, neighbors, co-workers, and people we met at Frank's.
Now 4 years removed from Camden and back in school working on a PhD, I am constantly experimenting with new ways of communicating hospitality to those around me. For a year and a half I worked at the homeless shelter in town, Good Samaritans - I only left because I am now going to school full-time. While working there, I made a lot of good friends and still keep in touch fairly regularly - although not as regularly as perhaps I should. Occasionally, I will find myself driving through downtown and meeting up with folks for a meal or lengthy conversation.
More recently, I've been inviting more people over for dinner. Sometimes it's planned; other times it's rather spontaneous. But either way, it's community - it's family. Let me be clear - I love what food banks and shelters can do for people and the people who work there day in and day out are fantastic, self-sacrificing people doing their absolute best to serve an ever-growing population of hungry individuals.
Yet, sometimes it's nice to have a little intimacy around a dining room table and a home-cooked meal. It doesn't always have to be about the logistics of getting food into a person's stomach. Sometimes it can be about slowing down, enjoying the conversation, and sharing life together.
Much Love.
PhD Student, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
Author, 1,800 Miles: Striving to End Sexual Violence, One Step at a Time
Friday, June 17, 2011
Being Beloved
A good friend of mine shared this video with me that has changed his World. He said he watches it "once every 4-5 months when [he feels] completely lost with life." It gave me some challenging things to think about in my life as well.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Friday, April 29, 2011
Friday, April 1, 2011
Sexual Assault Awareness Month
I have been coadvising the Sexual Assault Awareness Month committee with my campus's health educator.
Because of this, I have been working on furthering my education regarding sexual assault prevention. I read The Macho Paradox: Why some men hurt women and how all men can help by Jackson Katz.
Katz really changed my world view and helped me be more aware about issues regarding sexual assault. Some things that stuck out to me was the prevalence of victim-blaming mentalities.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/29/bangladesh.lashing.death/index.html
This article is about the death of a 14-year old young woman in Bangladesh. Notice the title of the article: "Only 14, Bangladeshi girl charged with adultery was lashed to death".
Yes, it highlights the atrocity of a 14-year old young woman being lashed to death.
But what it does not highlight is the fact that a man raped the young woman. Because of the rape, the community through religious order sentenced her to a punishment that caused her death. Victim blaming.
Additionally, the article provides information as to the prevalence of gender violence in Bangladesh: "The United Nations estimates that almost half of Bangladeshi women suffer from domestic violence and many also commonly endure rape, beatings, acid attacks and even death because of the country's entrenched patriarchal system."
While gender violence like this happened halfway across the world, these instances of gender violence and victim blaming by the community occur in the United States. Often.
My question is: Who is going to choose to change this world? Bangladesh? our communities? women's rights? prevention of gender violence?
Sometimes when I look out into the world, I see that there is so much strife and hate that I doubt my ability to change the world. But I know that is not true. While I cannot enact changes in Bengladeshi communities, I can educate myself on how to help make the world a safer place. I can actively challenge my community. I can educate other men in my community. I can own the fact that gender violence is a men's issue. I can own the fact that gender violence is my issue.
And I will.
Because of this, I have been working on furthering my education regarding sexual assault prevention. I read The Macho Paradox: Why some men hurt women and how all men can help by Jackson Katz.
Katz really changed my world view and helped me be more aware about issues regarding sexual assault. Some things that stuck out to me was the prevalence of victim-blaming mentalities.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/29/bangladesh.lashing.death/index.html
This article is about the death of a 14-year old young woman in Bangladesh. Notice the title of the article: "Only 14, Bangladeshi girl charged with adultery was lashed to death".
Yes, it highlights the atrocity of a 14-year old young woman being lashed to death.
But what it does not highlight is the fact that a man raped the young woman. Because of the rape, the community through religious order sentenced her to a punishment that caused her death. Victim blaming.
Additionally, the article provides information as to the prevalence of gender violence in Bangladesh: "The United Nations estimates that almost half of Bangladeshi women suffer from domestic violence and many also commonly endure rape, beatings, acid attacks and even death because of the country's entrenched patriarchal system."
While gender violence like this happened halfway across the world, these instances of gender violence and victim blaming by the community occur in the United States. Often.
My question is: Who is going to choose to change this world? Bangladesh? our communities? women's rights? prevention of gender violence?
Sometimes when I look out into the world, I see that there is so much strife and hate that I doubt my ability to change the world. But I know that is not true. While I cannot enact changes in Bengladeshi communities, I can educate myself on how to help make the world a safer place. I can actively challenge my community. I can educate other men in my community. I can own the fact that gender violence is a men's issue. I can own the fact that gender violence is my issue.
And I will.
Spring Break
Well, it's not earth shattering, but I was able to strike a blow for multiculturalism this week when I taught my two nieces how to use chopsticks and then I told them the differences between Chinese, Japanese and Korean chopsticks. My oldest niece, age 15 was so excited that she was able to eat her whole dinner with chopsticks.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Corporate Responsibility
The other day, I was sitting in the breakroom at work, eating my lunch. I was kind of staring into space when something caught my eye. On each table there was a flyer, as there is, every month talking about Target in the community. There was an article that talked about how Target was a part of so many communities, all over the nation. Target is committed to sustainability by having energy star appliances in use in their stores, committed to education by participating in school library makeovers, committed to healthy communities by being a founding organization for Alliance for the Healthiest US - promoting health and well-being. It made me feel so great to be a part of a company that is bigger than me, my store, my state. Target is not only the coolest store in the industry - it also has a very high standard of Corporate Responsibilty and I am more than proud be a part of it. Target is changing the world on a daily basis and I will change the world by finding a way to bring events to my store or participate in the ones that are already happening!
Friday, March 25, 2011
Community Service Works
So the past two Spring Breaks at Northwest I have organized some service projects in my building that involved painting the floor hallway walls and stairwell walls. Last year the students and staff that volunteered was mainly from my building. It was a great experience to spend time with staff and students from my building and to really get to know them on a deeper level. It is amazing how much you don't really know about a person's life until you really stop and take the time to ask. The group of seven volunteers were closer after that week and they exceeded the department expectations by completing two floors of new paint when everybody thought they wouldn't even complete one floor.
This year for the spring break project I decided to take a different angle and open up the service to all students not knowing what responses I would get. There was some advertisements and a campus wide email to ask for volunteers. In all 20 students responded and surprisingly 12 of those responses were students who lived off campus. That was a shock to me as I would never expect students who moved off campus to come back and help out. The project this time was to repaint two 8-story stairwell walls and there was a significant larger crowd helping. Nonetheless, we completed the project in 2 1/2 days and people that did not know each other until this project worked together and actually grew friendships.
The whole reason for this blog is a quote from a senior who lives off campus. I found this status posted yesterday on his facebook and it stated this, "Spring Break 2011 has been awesome so far! I helped with a project on campus and met some new cool people! It was truly a rewarding experience and the Dieterich Hall stairway walls look pretty good now!"
Reading that quote made me realize why I do projects like these knowing that I could easily be taking it easy or going on vacation. Providing the opportunities for students to come together and help serve the campus community is the sole purpose of community service and that makes all the difference in the world.
This year for the spring break project I decided to take a different angle and open up the service to all students not knowing what responses I would get. There was some advertisements and a campus wide email to ask for volunteers. In all 20 students responded and surprisingly 12 of those responses were students who lived off campus. That was a shock to me as I would never expect students who moved off campus to come back and help out. The project this time was to repaint two 8-story stairwell walls and there was a significant larger crowd helping. Nonetheless, we completed the project in 2 1/2 days and people that did not know each other until this project worked together and actually grew friendships.
The whole reason for this blog is a quote from a senior who lives off campus. I found this status posted yesterday on his facebook and it stated this, "Spring Break 2011 has been awesome so far! I helped with a project on campus and met some new cool people! It was truly a rewarding experience and the Dieterich Hall stairway walls look pretty good now!"
Reading that quote made me realize why I do projects like these knowing that I could easily be taking it easy or going on vacation. Providing the opportunities for students to come together and help serve the campus community is the sole purpose of community service and that makes all the difference in the world.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
A realization...
Sometimes when Matt asks -- "how did I change the world?" -- I have a very hard time articulating what impact I have on the world. I mean, I always see how others change my world.
However, it was not until this week that I saw some progress with a young boy with whom I am working. I became involved with a mentorship program through Prevention Specialists of Missouri. Through this program, I mentor a 3rd grade boy.
To give some background:
It's been 9 sessions, and it has been very interesting. The first session, we were working on homework, and it came to a section where he had to read, reflect, and write. When he started to do it, he quickly gave up and hid underneath the desk. Thankfully, the next few sessions, his homework was completed before mentoring time.
However, without fail, the next time we worked on some homework that seemed slightly difficult to him, he shut down.
It's been such a struggle to help affirm that he is smart and can work through the homework. It's highly doubtful that he gets that type of affirmation at home.
One thing that I have observed is that he loves to play. When things get tough, the first thing he asks is, "can we go to the gym?". Another thing I have observed is how creative he is. We will sit down and play with Jenga blocks and make these worlds that are fun and interesting.
My hope for this child is that he will grow up to be a strong member of his community that is confident in himself and his ability to positively impact the world. However, sometimes, I feel like that no matter what his teachers, other mentors, or myself do, he will always have this challenge of self doubt.
The glimmer of hope:
Due to my job, I had a meeting that was forced on my calendar during the time the mentorship program occurs, so I had to miss a session with my mentee. I figured, "great, all the progress we have made through being present consistently will be demurred".
However, when I came back the next week, the first thing he said was, "you weren't here last week." It made me smile. He wasn't upset. But he was glad I was there that day.
Then we proceeded to work on homework. (Some of the homework stumped me). When he would start to shut down, I would continue to encourage him, and he would keep trying to figure it out. Before the end of the session, we were able to finish the homework without him hiding under the table and to play.
Conclusion:
It was not really until this moment that I realized that I am impacting his life. I am changing his world--for the better.
Moral of the story--consistency is key; never give up hope.
However, it was not until this week that I saw some progress with a young boy with whom I am working. I became involved with a mentorship program through Prevention Specialists of Missouri. Through this program, I mentor a 3rd grade boy.
To give some background:
It's been 9 sessions, and it has been very interesting. The first session, we were working on homework, and it came to a section where he had to read, reflect, and write. When he started to do it, he quickly gave up and hid underneath the desk. Thankfully, the next few sessions, his homework was completed before mentoring time.
However, without fail, the next time we worked on some homework that seemed slightly difficult to him, he shut down.
It's been such a struggle to help affirm that he is smart and can work through the homework. It's highly doubtful that he gets that type of affirmation at home.
One thing that I have observed is that he loves to play. When things get tough, the first thing he asks is, "can we go to the gym?". Another thing I have observed is how creative he is. We will sit down and play with Jenga blocks and make these worlds that are fun and interesting.
My hope for this child is that he will grow up to be a strong member of his community that is confident in himself and his ability to positively impact the world. However, sometimes, I feel like that no matter what his teachers, other mentors, or myself do, he will always have this challenge of self doubt.
The glimmer of hope:
Due to my job, I had a meeting that was forced on my calendar during the time the mentorship program occurs, so I had to miss a session with my mentee. I figured, "great, all the progress we have made through being present consistently will be demurred".
However, when I came back the next week, the first thing he said was, "you weren't here last week." It made me smile. He wasn't upset. But he was glad I was there that day.
Then we proceeded to work on homework. (Some of the homework stumped me). When he would start to shut down, I would continue to encourage him, and he would keep trying to figure it out. Before the end of the session, we were able to finish the homework without him hiding under the table and to play.
Conclusion:
It was not really until this moment that I realized that I am impacting his life. I am changing his world--for the better.
Moral of the story--consistency is key; never give up hope.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Born This Way
Many people know that I really enjoy Lady Gaga. It's not the crazy outfits, the interesting videos, or the tell it like it is interview style that makes me passionate about her. It is the message she sends to people and the kind things she does...such as donating tens of thousands of dollars to charities in areas where she performs.
On a Born This Way side note, I came across this blog that documents experiences of people who are LGBT from when they are little. The guy that made this is changing the world. Check it out at http://www.bornthiswayblog.com/ Great job with showing young people that it is okay to be themselves!
Keep changing the world folks!
On a Born This Way side note, I came across this blog that documents experiences of people who are LGBT from when they are little. The guy that made this is changing the world. Check it out at http://www.bornthiswayblog.com/ Great job with showing young people that it is okay to be themselves!
Keep changing the world folks!
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