My favorite quote is by Soren Kierkegaard “Life must be lived forward, but can only be understood backward.” I don’t have many fond memories from my mid-teens. I hadn’t thought about it in a while, until today I took a workshop on engaging youth to positively impact communities. The first excercise involved us sharing with a partner, the answers to 26 questions about what it was like to be 15 years old. It brought me back to remembering what it was like to feel isolated and disconnected. I didn’t feel that I was supported by a community–and I didn’t really know that I wanted to be. Do other youth feel estranged like this? What is the impact?
I feel fortunate that university helped give me a fresh start. I got INVOLVED, and that changed everything! It was the start of understanding my identity. Where my zone was and what inspired me.
I’ve had the benefit of working with an incredible mentor since April, who has helped me clarify my goals and keeps me accountable to progressing towards them each month. As I explore the range of mentorship programs that are available to youth to help them connect to who they are and want to be–it excites me to see that there is an opportunity for them to be more engaged than I was in my mid-teens. But I know that these programs won’t thrive without the support of volunteers and donors to the agencies that deliver them. So, I’m adding to my list of goals for 2010 to be an active champion of youth mentorship in Toronto. If you have suggestions or would like to participate with me, let me know. Let’s get INVOLVED!
