Oh happy day...
FUCK! I just took a quick sip of coffee from my thermos and didn't realize it was still scalding hot...good one, Rob.
Anyways, May has been an eventful month and I can't believe how much has been changing since I finished school for the year (well over a month ago). First of all, I got a full-time summer job with the Renfrew Boys and Girls Club again but instead of heading up day camp programs, I am on the programming and development side this year so that's exciting. Last year I had to do the whole nine yards but I think this year will be a little less stressful. A lot of people were happy to see me back in the enfrew office and it was also nice to see some people that I haven't talked to since last summer. Some people had no idea where I went during the school year and others seemed to know everything I was doing from December onward (the after school program downtown, mentoring, etc.)...creepy.
I was actually at the Beltline Youth Initiative (BYI) after I left the Renfrew club last December. I did some work with inner-city kids at a REALLY old elementary school downtown (Beltline area). For about 6 months now I have been running an after school program and when I got the full-time position back at this club, I didn't want to give the after school program up. Luckily, the coordinator and managers were nice enough to let me continue doing my program there while putting in almost full time hours here. The program ends on June 24th for the school year so it'll be kinda sad to say bye to the kids for two months but I'll be back in September!
In mid-April (also before getting full-time work here) I started doing some mentoring with a 16-year old guy named Lance and that has been one of the most rewarding experiences ever. He comes from a really shaky past and he actually moved to Calgary from Saskatchewan to get away from all the problems he was facing. Heather and Melissa, the program coordinators at BYI were the ones who originally approached me regarding Lance. At first I wasn't sure because I had never mentored someone before but I also took it as a great honour and decided to go for it. Best decision ever. Anyways, let me rewind back a little bit...
When I first went in to meet Lance, I was a little on edge because based on what they told me, he was really guarded and somewhat difficult to work with. Heather and Melissa were unsure of how well we'd connect or if we'd even connect at all. When I first met him he was pretty quiet but I tell ya', after about 10 minutes he was LAUGHING and joking around. We were sitting in the games room and Melissa and Heather were kinda watching from their office and even they were surprised to see how quickly he opened up.
When I first went down to meet Lance, I was only going to spend about an hour with him...that hour ended up being nearly three. For almost three hours we were talking and around 3:00 I had to get going because I had my after-school program to run that afternoon. I was amazed by how quickly he felt comfortable talking to me. Later on, Melissa told me that he doesn't ever open up that quickly to anyone so I was like wow, I didn't know what to say.
It's now been almost 7 weeks since I first started working with Lance and I feel like I've learned so much. We have a really high level of trust and as a result he's disclosed a lot of personal stuff with me and I really feel bad that he has gone through such a rocky life at such a young age. Nobody should have to live a life like the one he has. The best part about this is I'm more of a friend to him than a boring-ass youth worker.
At the end of the day, nothing is more rewarding than knowing that you can make a difference in another person's life even if it means just listening to what they have to say or lending an open ear. I strongly believe that everyone should mentor at least once in their life - just seeing the impact you've made on a person is a million times more valuable than a paycheque any day.
Last bit of business...
Go Spurs Go!
Anyways, May has been an eventful month and I can't believe how much has been changing since I finished school for the year (well over a month ago). First of all, I got a full-time summer job with the Renfrew Boys and Girls Club again but instead of heading up day camp programs, I am on the programming and development side this year so that's exciting. Last year I had to do the whole nine yards but I think this year will be a little less stressful. A lot of people were happy to see me back in the enfrew office and it was also nice to see some people that I haven't talked to since last summer. Some people had no idea where I went during the school year and others seemed to know everything I was doing from December onward (the after school program downtown, mentoring, etc.)...creepy.
I was actually at the Beltline Youth Initiative (BYI) after I left the Renfrew club last December. I did some work with inner-city kids at a REALLY old elementary school downtown (Beltline area). For about 6 months now I have been running an after school program and when I got the full-time position back at this club, I didn't want to give the after school program up. Luckily, the coordinator and managers were nice enough to let me continue doing my program there while putting in almost full time hours here. The program ends on June 24th for the school year so it'll be kinda sad to say bye to the kids for two months but I'll be back in September!
In mid-April (also before getting full-time work here) I started doing some mentoring with a 16-year old guy named Lance and that has been one of the most rewarding experiences ever. He comes from a really shaky past and he actually moved to Calgary from Saskatchewan to get away from all the problems he was facing. Heather and Melissa, the program coordinators at BYI were the ones who originally approached me regarding Lance. At first I wasn't sure because I had never mentored someone before but I also took it as a great honour and decided to go for it. Best decision ever. Anyways, let me rewind back a little bit...
When I first went in to meet Lance, I was a little on edge because based on what they told me, he was really guarded and somewhat difficult to work with. Heather and Melissa were unsure of how well we'd connect or if we'd even connect at all. When I first met him he was pretty quiet but I tell ya', after about 10 minutes he was LAUGHING and joking around. We were sitting in the games room and Melissa and Heather were kinda watching from their office and even they were surprised to see how quickly he opened up.
When I first went down to meet Lance, I was only going to spend about an hour with him...that hour ended up being nearly three. For almost three hours we were talking and around 3:00 I had to get going because I had my after-school program to run that afternoon. I was amazed by how quickly he felt comfortable talking to me. Later on, Melissa told me that he doesn't ever open up that quickly to anyone so I was like wow, I didn't know what to say.
It's now been almost 7 weeks since I first started working with Lance and I feel like I've learned so much. We have a really high level of trust and as a result he's disclosed a lot of personal stuff with me and I really feel bad that he has gone through such a rocky life at such a young age. Nobody should have to live a life like the one he has. The best part about this is I'm more of a friend to him than a boring-ass youth worker.
At the end of the day, nothing is more rewarding than knowing that you can make a difference in another person's life even if it means just listening to what they have to say or lending an open ear. I strongly believe that everyone should mentor at least once in their life - just seeing the impact you've made on a person is a million times more valuable than a paycheque any day.
Last bit of business...
Go Spurs Go!