Youth Development? What is that?

Many times people would ask me what am I majoring in? Of course I would tell them in Youth Development, but then I never really knew how to explain what my major was. I use to tell them its like human development or like education but I was not certified to be the head teacher. Through out the years I development a better definition into what I was doing and I am glad I did with the elevator speeches. Many people undermine what youth workers do or they think are major is nothing but easy work. 

What is YDEV? To me Youth Development is where future youth workers are given the tools and resources to help youth become leaders. Help the youth by leading with them and co-write their stories and make sure their voices are heard. Youth are the future generation, so as youth workers it is important to give them a safe space to do so. You want to empower them and make sure they have the resources and guidance to do so as a mentor. 

YDEV give youth workers the opportunity to gain knowledge to help the youth out in many different fields including, Social work, Education, and Non-Profit Studies. Also, they are given the opportunity to go out into the field, which involves the youth in an 180 hour internship. Throughout their years in college they are given professional opportunity to attend conferences and events that deal with the youth. 

I am glad we are given the opportunities to work on our elevator speeches and  basically our definitions of what is youth work. I feel like my pitch of what youth work is will never be as good as my peers, but I think my pitch gives a little idea of what YDEV is. After reading the text that was given, This is Youth Work,  it made me realize YDEV is the experiences that makes us want to do what we do. We want to help the youth and become advocates, by leading with, co-authoring, building relationships, having purposeful play and creating safe spaces. 

Late Post; Rock the Vote (Blog #7)

I found the website Rock The Vote interesting because I think it helps individuals who are not interested in politics like myself get engaged with the government and imperative issues that are currently going on in our society. I believe the information presented on the websites help addresses the concerns that many people are having, especially the one about Donald Trump. 

What questions do you have about the election?

-Who are the majority voters? (Age range etc)

-Who is going to win and by what margin?

-How is Donald Trump being in this election effect future candidates? (Seems like anyone can run now)

What makes you want to vote? What makes you shy away from the voting booth?

-The only reason why I want to vote is because of my peers and co-worker. Many times during the election period I been ask if I was going to vote and I would respond to them no and they would be really mad at me. Also, a little part of me wants to vote because I want to make a difference even though my vote is only one but everybody tell me one vote can make a difference. Also, since I been of the age to vote I did not get to vote because of a miss happening, which leads me to why I shy away from the voting booth. Years ago when I was going to vote for Obama, I went to the voting station right up the street from my house. There was a lot of people there and I was waiting for a while to vote. When it was my turn to vote they told me I could not vote because it was not the station I was suppose to vote at. Little did I know there was two voting location on my street. It really got me upset so I never bother voting. 

Do you feel well informed about the issues and candidates?

-I want to say yes and no because I been watching the news and reading things online, but you cannot believe everything that is being said on social media. Everybody media outlet has their own preference, so they will only put out what they want you to hear. Then at the same time I feel like this election has so much attention, there is non-stop coverage on it and there is always something being said and spoken about. 

Does this election draw you in or alienate you? 

-This election did a little bit of both and I think it is mainly because of Trump. There was always something he would say or do that got so much attention it was hard not to hear about it or avoid it. Then at times it got to the point where it was to much and annoying.