Event # 2

 For my second event I went to the second clinic for Beat the Streets Wrestling on November 11th.  For the first clinic I actually participated but for this one I had injured my hand during a previous practice so I had to watch.  Although I couldn't wrestle I was still able to help the kids out.  At this clinic I saw some leading with which was awesome.  At one of the stations with a couple of the coaches they asked the kids what move they wanted to learn or they would show them a few moves and let them pick their two favorite.  Seeing that reminded me of the article I read about leading with.  Like I've said before that is an awesome teaching technique to have because it really gets the youth engaged and makes them feel like they have a say and they aren't just being bossed around.

 Beat the Streets
Youth Voice
wrestling

Event # 1 Wrestling Clinic 9/24

For my first event I went to a Wrestling Clinic at Hope High School in Providence on September 24th from 9am to 11:30am.  Anybody was welcome to come to this event and it was free.  It's basically providing an opportunity for wrestlers to get extra practice or new comers to see what they thought of the sport.  There were probably around 6 or 7 coaches in all there and they were all in stations.  After a 20 minute workout from everybody, the students lined up by weight and were put into groups.  The groups broke off and went to a different station.  They would stay there for about 15 minutes, get shown a move or two, allow for practice time and then rotate to the next station.  I think that this is a great opportunity for youth because it gathers everybody together doing what they love and it's a great building activity for relationships and to improve your skills.  They also had the coach from Rhode Island College there so the kids could see who their future coach may be and if the students had any questions he was there to help out and ask.
 Hope High School
Beat the Streets
wrestling move 

Stringing it all Together

If somebody asked me, "What is Youth Development?" this is what I would tell them:

Youth Development is a major at Rhode Island College that provides you with an opportunity to lead with the youth.  In this major you take non profit studies, social work, and education classes.  You also get to chose your own minor.  In your final year you get to go out into the field and do a 180 internship of your choice and interest and apply all the information and skills you have learned this far.  You learn that the youth are so important to work with and really rely on you to be there for them.  They get taught in the classroom then later go home to their family but that time in between then are not getting any attention.  This is where we as youth workers come in and help them with academics, social skills, life skills, and help them find themselves.  When you graduate from this major you can work at a YMCA, an after school program, youth sports director, community program coordinator and much more.  It is such an important and rewarding program that helps the youth better themselves and their communities.   

Center for Reslience

Center for Resilience is a program that empowers people to empower themselves.  This program teaches skills to students to help them achieve academically, socially, and in every part of their life.  This program is also able to help kids who may be called bullies.  Once they start to practice their techniques they become leaders by the end.  There are also many activities they have to manage stress which is an important tool to have, for example stress balls, art activities, and deep breathing exercises all calm a person down.  I think that this program should be involved with many more schools so it can make a greater impact world wide.

Youth Vote

My biggest question about the election is how did Trump get in?  I don't even want to go into detail about it because it makes me very angry and I don't want to sounds offensive.  I vote every year and my vote went for Hilary; I wanted Bernie though.  I vote every year because I think it is important and would like to think that it makes a difference.  If everyone thought their vote did not count then we would have millions of people not voting so everybody can't think like that.  I do not know much about politics so I usually just vote for president and maybe one or two of the questions.  I would do my research about the other people and questions but I have way too much homework to be doing extra research which may sound like a bad excuse.  I always make sure I have enough information about the presidents for sure though.  I feel like I still had some questions and was not completely informed about everything but I was so against Trump that Hilary was my vote despite her cons.  I am afraid of what is going to happen to not only the youth but everybody.  I believe we are going to see some big changes and not in a good way.

context mapping

Context mapping is a way to figure out where you belong, who you are, and the interests in your life.  In the story, Mitch asked Juilan to be on the lookout for teachers while he vandalized the bathroom.  That is peer pressure and he was trying to fit in and be cool.
Some key terms in the text:
Forced closed identity- when someone sees things one way and doesn't expand their mind because of limited experiences.
Identity Moratorium- when someone takes interests in different beliefs but does not stick to any of them in particular.
Achieved identity- when the person finds out who they are and are proud of it.


My context map:

Family: mom, dad, sister
Wrestling: job, sport, internship, friends/family
College: Youth Development major, Concentration- Health and Wellness, 5th year

Nakkula Youth Work is Cocreating

1.interpretation
2.social construction
3.mentor youth
4.productive imagination
5.meeting of the minds
6.scaffolding 
7.reciprocal transformation
8.applied developmentalists
9.safeguard
10.implicit theories


1.Mom
2. Dad
3. Sister
4.Aunt
5. Grandparents
6. Wrestling family
7. Friends
8. Ex
9. Neighbor
10. Cousin

If I had to pick one out of the ten that I helped me write my story it would be my wrestling family.  I have honestly never met such nice, caring, supportive, friendly, motivational people in my life.  The coaches/ friends that I work with just inspire me to try hard and do better with everything that I do.

Color Blind or Color Brave

In this TED talk Mellody talked about race and racism.  She talked about her own life experiences and how she was treated differently because of her race.  One example she talked about was she went to a birthday party and when she came home her mom asked her how she was treated instead of how was is, or did you have fun and at the time she didn't understand why her mom was asking her that.
One key point that she makes is that racism has to be addressed and talked about in order for change.  Many people feel uncomfortable talking about racism so they do not bring it up and if it is brought up then they change the topic or don't say anything.  Acting like it doesn't exist isn't a good thing because it does exist and needs to be changed.  Another thing is we should not ignore the fact that people are different races and ethnicity which is what this ted talk made me think about as well.  I know so many people who say, "I don't see color."  I don't like when people say that because first of all it's not true unless you're color blind and second why would you want to ignore someone's whole culture?  Color s beautiful, there's more to it than just the pigment of someone's skin.  I understand what someone is saying when they say that; basically they are saying that it doesn't matter to me what color your skin is, I am not going to treat you any differently, therefore I don't see color.  When someone says that though, I don't think they really realize all that that statement entitles and people can actually find that offensive.

Youth Work is Leading With

I believe that the YIA model is very important and should be used everywhere.  This model allows the youth to lead with which means they have a say in what's going on.  They are no just being ordered to do something; they can voice their opinion and make a change.  It should never be just the teacher having control of the classroom and the kids have no say in what is going on.  In fact if the kids do have input then they are much more likely to pay attention and show a lot more respect to the teacher.  The youth likes this model because it makes them feel like their opinion actually matters. Everybody has their own opinions and own ideas so they should be able to share and contribute with the class.
I can relate to this because I do much better in classrooms where the youth gets to lead with the teacher.  Having options for a students is huge and when we know that what we say and how we feel actually matters, we have way more respect for that teacher.  I have had teachers before who do not care how I do or what I am doing and it shows.  Those teachers do not get respect from the students and usually rarely pay attention.

What is Youth Work?

Youth work is working with young adults and children in many different forms to overall make them a better person.  We work with them to help develop their social and educational skills and to find their voice.  A lot of the time youth work is found in inner cities and poorer communities where people cannot afford certain programs and higher education to help them succeed and provide them with opportunities.
I have had a few different opportunities to work with youth in the past and also am currently.  I have volunteered at West Broadway Middle School and also Alfred Lima Elementary.  At West Broadway I would help all of the kids in the classroom and at Alfred Lima I was assigned to one kid that had a learning disability.  I learned a lot from these two different experiences and am very grateful that I had the opportunity to be a part of that.  Not only would I help the kids with their homework but they would tell me about their life and ask me for advice on anything.
Currently my experience with the youth is at Beat the Streets which has been my favorite experience so far.  I coach them to wrestle but I am also their mentor and someone they look up to.  If they need a shoulder to cry on, I'm there, if they need help, I'm there, and when they need to be cheered up and gain confidence I'm 100% there for them.  I am always telling these kids to have confidence in themselves and to never doubt each other or themselves.  We are all like one big family on that team and I don't know where any single one of us would be without each other. 

Internship Project

   For my internship I am working at Beat the Streets as a wrestling coach at Nathanael Greene Middle School in providence.  I work along side three other coaches and we have 50+ kids on our team.  Most of the kids are boys but I am proud to say that almost 20 of the kids are girls.
   We have practice on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays for 2 hours.  Each practice before we start wrestling we condition for 20 minutes.  For my project I am going to condition with just the girls and design a workout with them while coach Silas and David coach the boys; coach Arianna will be with me.  This has never been done before where the workout has been split into boys and girls but I believe that it is a good idea to check in with the girls and I think that this is something that will make them even more motivated to stay on the team.