Danas YDEV Blog

BLOG POST #9: What questions, reflections, learnings stick out to you? How do you share your identity/ies in youth spaces? How are your identity(ies) affirmed or not?       To focus on identities within a youth space, I have to say that I think this is an interesting question and subsequently had to ponder upon it. Overall, I believe the way I am perceived varies greatly from youth to youth and from setting to setting. For instance, in some youth settings, I held leadership positions that required me to focus more on program logistics and management while in other instances I held positions where I work directly with the youth. In all honesty, I believe that the best identity and perception I get from youth is when I am in direct service and where I am able to connect most with them. Recently there was a youth volunteer at my workplace who was crying due to personal life circumstances. One of our staff members had a conversation with them although at that moment, I f...

How do these chapters connect to your own experiences and beliefs? My first acknowledgement of Youth In Action was through my job at PASA (Providence After School Alliance). Working as a Program Operations Associate within PASA's office I frequently had to go through organization files and specifically YIA stuck out to me. When I took Intro to YDEV with Pegah I immediately recognized the organization's name and soon learned that for a period of time she was the Executive Director! Reading the Chapter that she wrote really brought to life what YIA is all about. For instance, the great description of the organization's structure and home really gave me a visualization of what their community looks like from the inside. A quote that they have written on the outside of their building that stuck out to me was "Youth lay the foundation. Providence Grows." Another quote and philosophy they work with is the idea that their adult-youth relationships should "honor the ...

           Before these readings, I understood care in education and youth development as the act of showing empathy and respect for one another in a youth/school setting. This care could be a teacher to student, student to teacher, student to student, and overall ideally a common theme within a given environment. To have an environment that embraces the ability to care for one another, you see youth and adults understand a wide range of perspectives and varying needs. No one is put into a "you should feel this way" type of box but rather everyone puts themselves into the shoes of another. This form of care helps people to understand where others are coming from and how to support each other within a given environment to see individualized growth and interconnected growth.       Some quotes that stuck out to me in the text are as follows, "When confronting stark realities they have never thought about, or have chosen not to see, man...

Social Justice Youth Development in Action I see the theme and focus of Social Justice Youth Development in many youth spaces. I truly believe that our generation and the ones coming after us truly understand the importance of speaking up about social justice issues and taking direct action. On a personal note, I follow many Instagram pages that have strong advocacy for topics such as LGBTQIA support, sex-positive/sexual health education, mental health awareness, and so on. Many of these pages are nonprofits that support programming for youth to have a voice and enact change in their lives and overall communities. Some of these accounts are, sexpositive_families, getrealmovement, and of course my past and current organizations that I work for pasa_afterzone, astrogram401, and nathan_bishop_cheer. I wanted to mention social media because the impact it has made on younger generations has helped promote there need to step up and create fair and just relations between themselves and the co...

BLOG POST #5: Ideology Double Journal- Quote 1: " While we did and still do welcome students who are exiting traditional preservice teacher programs (as well as other majors) we learned quickly that YD is not merely a retention program.  We attract many undergraduates with strong academic records who want to work with youth outside of school structures." Reflection- When I first heard of YDEV, the image that people held for the program was exactly as the first line stated. A fall back for Education Majors who couldn't reach the requirements. Soon after I discussed with a friend who was apart of the YDEV community what the program meant to him. Personally, I was at odds with my Psychology major and was considering doing an "individualized major plan." After speaking to my friend, I quickly realized from his passion for the program and all the amazing opportunities and classes that it offers, that it was the absolute perfect fit for me and my future. I am so fort...

       I grew up in a very diverse community and the topic of racism would come up frequently. For instance, the conversations I would have in school growing up would be about personal experiences with racism and racism in certain areas of life (like the legal system), alongside other specific examples. What really opened my eyes to the depth of racism was through my college education. The most in-depth courses I have ever taken about race was in my college social work classes. The courses I took in college taught me how deeply embedded racism is in our country and how it impacts almost all areas of life.       One of the hardest things for me in my college education was processing my new knowledge of the larger racist systems that are put in place that we can't necessarily change. I always believe in constant action and growth, if there's a problem I try to move towards it. With some of the topics and discussions we would have in class there was ...