My Story ft My Mother and many others

I can name many people that have helped me co-create.
     My step-father that came into my life and took me to father daughter dances.
     My sister, who's rebellious nature made my parents keep a closer eye on me.
     My boyfriend that keeps me sane
     My best friend from middle school that opened my eyes
     My high school teacher Deloris Grant for giving me experience of a life time and making me try new things.
     My high school math teacher Anthony Kulla for making me love math and showing me his passion for teaching.
     My family in Guatemala for showing me to be grateful of every opportunity I have
     My aunt for letting me be a big sister to her daughter and newborn son
     My godmother for always being there
     and last but not least my mother.
My mother drove my older sister and I across the country from California to Canada/New England. She was a single mom for many years.She suffered financially for many years. She was an immigrant who worked hard, learned English and became a citizen. But she stressed the importance of her struggles and made me want to be educated and successful to make her proud. She is amazing for that. I wouldn't be here today if it were not for her. However for this assignment we had to choose our list and fill it with people who have both been good and bad in our lives and I've also had many bad experiences because my mother that has shaped who I am. When my mother moved cross country I lost the chance to ever speak to my birth father and that has always left me guessing. Because my mother struggled so much she stressed education. When my siblings were unable to continue their education the pressure was thrown on to me, the youngest and last hope. My mother found many ways to keep me close. She has said encouraging things and things that made me lose self esteem.
Everything she has done is for our sake and now I wish more than ever to have my diploma for her sake.

Invisibility

Have you ever felt invisible?

     I am a very shy and quiet person so the feeling of being invisible is something I know all too well. I tend to not stand out in a crowd nor do I like to draw in all the attention. Just this week I was siting in an office with a group of people when someone said something inappropriate, needless to say he definitely didn't remember I was still in the office. However I feel that being invisible is something that many people don't want to be, but when asked what super power you would want, many people say invisibility. I see my invisibility as a super power that allows to me observe the people around me with out drawing any attention.

Do Hobson or Nayyrah Waheed help you think about invisibility in a new way?

     Typically invisibility is seen as negative,I saw it as positive but in reference to Hobson and Waheed I understand why this is negative. I feel that we try too hard to avoid color because it makes us uncomfortable, and when we are uncomfortable we try to avoid something in hopes that it goes away. Color will never fade. We are not just our color but our color has helped in defining our live in different ways. It is important to talk about race. Action begins with awareness. If we didn't inform people about cancer because it make us uncomfortable we can never find a cure. The cure could be a milk farm for all we know!

What's Your Sign? YDEV Ideology Horoscope

After taking the Ideology Inventory Quiz I realized that my score was most best matched to Positive Youth Development. After reading what each of the three categories were I was glad that I scored within this category. I think this was the best fitting for me because I truly believe that youth workers should build on the strengths of youth and help them become healthy adults. When I think of youth workers I think of people who are supporters of youth that help guide them to reach their goals as apposed to teaching them what they should do. However when taking the quiz, my scores also evenly matched critical youth development. In critical youth development adults and youth work together to make a better place. Just as positive development I believe that youth and adults both play important roles and even if youth workers are there to help guide it is the youth that are ultimately in control of what they get out of it.

Characteristics of A Youth Worker

(OOPS...Forgot to publish)

     A youth worker has many characteristics. Youth workers are educators. This means that first and for most youth workers are educators and teachers, the only difference is that youth workers are not your traditional teachers. Youth workers are after school teachers, coaches and so much more. Youth work is also a social practice. Youth workers generally work in group settings. The encourage social interactions between peers, members of a community and families. This is done through meaningful play, ice breakers and many different activities. In a program like Tall U, they use games, ice breakers and performances to grow interaction between the community at Central Falls. Like Tall U and many other programs and activities like the after school Japanese Club I taught, students have a choice. They choose to be part of these programs unlike traditional classroom settings where they are forced to take certain classes. Youth workers are not just educators. Youth workers encourage youth to have a voice. Youth workers are advocates and encourage youth to advocate and have a voice. Youth Work is also a social practice. Youth workers help to provide opportunities that the typical school setting can not provide. Like coaching in sports. It is a way to learn team work and responsibility and learn how to manage time. This gives youth a different setting for them to learn,socialize and grow. Finally Youth workers are actively challenging inequality and work towards social justice. To me this may be one of the most important things youth workers are. This means that youth workers have to be aware of their baggage and opinions in order to show no bias. A youth worker must be attentive to any inequalities and make sure to provide equal chance for all their youth!

About Me!

If you could only chose 5 photos to describe yourself what would you chose?

For my photos I decided to choose some of my hobbies and interests. I love photography and the first picture is a picture of my "baby" my first camera not attached to a cellphone. Below is an internet photo of the one place that inspires me the most. . . Japan! I love the language and its culture and hope to study there some day. Japan has influenced other hobbies of mine such as drawing, gaming, and reading. I love to read Japanese Manga (comic books) and playing Japanese video games (basically anything Nintendo). However, I also enjoy reading in general. So, that's the basic ingredients into making me who I am!