Who am I In Relation to Youth Work

 I was never involved in any after school programs as a youth, but my version of out of school time was baking at home. It was where I learned patience, creativity, and how to share comfort and care with others through what I made. It definitely gave me a sense of accomplishment, confidence and connection similar to what OST programs aim to provide for youth. This piece resonated with me because it helped me see that even though I didn't grow up in a structured after school program I still got to experience the kind of learning and support that the reading describes. Baking for me was a place outside of school where I could unwind and feel grounded. After reading this piece, It made me think about how important it is for every young person to have somewhere like that whether its a program or something at home.

CONNECTION:  https://phillyfamily.com/why-cooking-classes-for-teens-are-a-recipe-for-success/

I found this article that talks about how cooking and baking programs can help teens build creativity, confidence, and healthy habits. This connects to my experience because although I wasn't in an actual program, I still got all those same benefits baking at home. 

Asset - Based Thinking

 To me, asset - based thinking means focusing on what people are good at instead of what they aren't good at or what they are missing. In a youth environment such as a school, it's about seeing the strengths, talents, and backgrounds that students have and helping them use those to learn and grow. It's a way of believing that every student has something to offer and every student is capable, not broken or behind.

CONNECTION: This idea of asset - based thinking connects to me because I have always been a quiet more reserved person but as a kid I was extremely shy. I hated being called on or put on the spot, and sometimes that made me seem like i didn't care or wasn't trying. But I had a few teachers who actually saw that I did care, I just learned and communicated differently. They would check in with me privately or let me share my thoughts in writing instead of out loud. Those teachers gave me a lot of confidence and made me feel capable and seen. I think this is what asset - based thinking is, instead of focusing on what I couldn't do, they noticed my strengths and worked with that.

QUESTIONS:

1. How can schools highlight student's strengths every day?

2. How can teachers discover their students strengths if those strengths aren't related to grades or test scores?

3. Does focusing too much on a students strengths cause teachers to overlook the areas where students need help?

Breathe - In the Heights

The song Breathe resonates with me because I can relate to the pressure of carrying other people's expectations that they have for me and wanting to make them proud. Like Nina, I have also had moments in my life where I felt like my only option was to succeed no matter what and when things didn't go according, I worried about letting those people in my life down. Needing to take a breath and find a way to keep going and moving forward is something I connected with too.

CONNECTION - "The association between academic pressure and adolescent mental health problems: A systematic review" https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37437728/

In this article, researchers reviewed 52 studies and found that in 48 of them, academic pressure was positively associated with negative mental health outcomes. When you are put under so much pressure and expectations to do well and succeed, it can greatly impact your mental health, specifically adolescents which are talked about in this article. In this song, Nina reflects a problem many students face today.

Youth Work

Quote 

“Whilst voluntary attendance is desirable to be sure, it is the quality of engagement and extent to which young people can shape encounters that are more important (Ord 2007).”

New ideas I learned 

1. Voluntary participation is important - youth work depends on young people choosing to be involved which makes the quality of engagement a lot more impactful and meaningful. Unlike mandatory programs or school, youth work is voluntary, so young people can decide what they want to participate in. That choice means their motivation comes from themselves, not from being forced.

2. Youth work in holistic - I learned that youth work focuses on supporting the whole person and not just working on fixing a problem within that person. This means that youth workers look at the whole picture, social, emotional, educational, and personal needs all together. Helping the youth grow in all aspects of their life and not just addressing one issue they may be having.

Vocab words

1. Holistic = looking at young people as whole individuals, considering all areas of their lives instead of focusing only on one problem.

2. Informal education = a style of learning used in youth work that happens through experiences, conversations, and activities instead of formal classroom teaching.

3. Voluntary principle = the idea that young people choose to take part in youth work activities rather than being forced which makes for a more meaningful engagement. 

This text relates to the real world because many community organizations today practice these same values described in the reading. For example, the Boys & Girls Club creates a safe space where young people can voluntarily choose to attend and participate and engage in things that will support their growth in a holistic way. Their mission statement also reflects this.

https://www.bgca.org/about-us/our-mission-story/

Living In Our Values

Link to my doc - https://dochub.com/madison-feliciano-qfbi10/QonjxvZRGxd9YlBK6dl87g/22-0120-values-document-bbbrandeduu-pdf

Connection - I read the article The Joy of Personal Growth, which talks about how growth often is paired with challenge but when you allow yourself to step into that discomfort, work through it, learn and grow it often leads to joy in the end. The article points out how creativity, openness and determination are all tools that can help you grow leading to more joy and fulfillment in life. What I connected with the most was the fact that joy and growth are connected. When you make progress even in small ways, you allow room for joy to show up. When I push myself to try something new, even if its small, joy often follows and reminds me why its worth it.  

Article - https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/what-doesnt-kill-us/202309/the-joy-of-personal-growth

This Book is Anti-Racist

When I read This Book is Anti-Racist, it made me think more deeply about the ways racism shows up in everyday life. It also made me reflect on everything that makes me who I am, and how every detail of my identity and experiences is part of what makes me Madi, I wouldn’t be myself without those pieces.

The book described how society often tries to fit people into a “dominant culture” box and labels those who don’t fit as “subordinate.” Learning this made me feel a little unsettled but also more aware, because it showed me how unfairly people can be judged or limited based on things they can’t change. At the same time, it encouraged me to embrace my own identity and see value in the differences that make each of us unique.

I connected this to an article calledTeaching With an Anti-Racist Lens. This article talks about how educators can transform classrooms into spaces that teach both the history and present-day realities of racism. This can help encourage students to act against it. It reminded me of how the book urges us to notice racism not just in big historic events but in everyday systems, and pushes us to take action, not just watch. Reading it made me feel hopeful, because it shows that change can start in everyday spaces, like a small classroom, and grow from there. 

https://www.nea.org/nea-today/all-news-articles/teaching-anti-racist-lens

About Madi

Hi! My name is Madi, and I’m a nursing student here at RIC working toward becoming a pediatric nurse. Outside of class, I enjoy staying active by walking or running, baking, and spending time with friends. I also love traveling, experiencing new things, and being surrounded by nature and flowers.