Post #5: Reflection
YDEV 501
This retreat and experience is definitely one for the books and one event in my life that I'll never forget. I will carry with me all the stories, teachings, and the rollercoaster of emotions I've felt in those 7 hours we've spent together.
I look at this photo and I remember the openness, vulnerability, trust, pain, tears, joy and laughter we all shared with one another and it really fills my heart. With all the crying, at least we ended the retreat with us all happy and smiling.
Learning that was familiar (or reinforced)
People
Having to work in the human services field for a couple of years now, I know based on experience that it takes more than just having a prestigious college degree and high intelligence to be successful and great in this line of work. From what I've seen, sometimes the people who actually care and have good intentions in their minds and hearts (regardless of their intellect or college degree) are the ones making huge impacts and contributions to the lives of the people they help and support. I am a strong believer of this and given all the teachings and reading materials we've had so far in this course, it is clear that it takes more than just having the brains to actually do good in supporting people, especially the youth.
One of the reasons that contributed to my decision in taking up this program was because of the awesome faculty members I've met and encountered throughout the process of applying for the program. I knew from the start that these are people who actually care about what they do and their students. The 1 year I've known and spoken with Ms. Victoria prior to the start of the program, I felt her kindness, openness and excitement about this entire endeavor and with me as well. In this retreat, I've got to meet the rest of the faculty members and I'm blown away and in awe of their stories and dedication to this field (and program).
Then I have my classmates and in the 5 weeks we've spent together in class, I quickly realized that I was in good company and these are awesome individuals who have their own reasons, knowledge and experiences as to why they chose to be in the program. With all the opinions and stories I hear and learn every class, I know that these are the people who can one day make a difference in the field of youth development -- that these are the kind of people we need running organizations that support the youth.
Learning that was new
RACISM
I feel weird putting this topic under this section. Racism has always been very interesting to me especially since I wasn't born and raised in the United States. I know and I'm fully aware that racism exists and it is found and experienced in all parts of the world, even in my own country. But I guess in a way, based on where I grew up, the impact of racism to the people affected by it is not as bad in my home country as it is here in the United States.
Back home, I've seen and witnessed racism growing up but it's mostly from the uneducated individuals. The worst scenario I'm familiar with is getting called names for being Chinese living in the Philippines. Of course there are also stories and events where Chinese families/ bosses would mistreat their Filipino helpers, etc. but I think it has to do more of being a bad person than being racist. As I'm writing this blog, I'm trying to think of how the Philippines or different institutions promote and perpetuate racism and I can't think of anything. There is not a policy, act or rule that promotes racism against a specific race in my country (that I know of).
However, what I've learned during the retreat is how serious and bad racism is in the United States and how in a way, it's been a way of how the country (government) has been operating since the early times. I didn't know about how the United States government changed the race classification of Mexicans to white to non-white and back to being white when they needed help from them. I was not aware of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882 when the United States starting deporting Chinese people after they've "used" them for the country's benefit.
This realization of mine is further strengthened by the video that was assigned this week where I learned about housing segregation in the United States and that it's all rooted in race/ racism. What's sad and infuriating is that the effects of racism in this country cannot just be solved by ignoring the acts or by mere education of people as it would've been the case in my home country. Here, people actually get hurt and even die because of racism. Young (and even unborn) children are already faced with so many problems of oppression just because of the color of their skin. Learning and finding out about all this was definitely eye-opening for me.
Commitment I am making
With the learning and realization from this experience, I commit to continuously learn and grow as a youth worker. I commit to learning about the different factors that can/ will impact and have an effect on my goal in becoming a great youth worker and ally of the youth. I'm going to make an effort to learn more about the history of the United States and the different events and policies that contributed to where the country is now. I want to learn more about everything involving this field so that I can be equipped in the future and do some good changes in this field and the world.
WEEK 5: RETREAT REFLECTION
Introduction
This retreat and experience is definitely one for the books and one event in my life that I'll never forget. I will carry with me all the stories, teachings, and the rollercoaster of emotions I've felt in those 7 hours we've spent together.I look at this photo and I remember the openness, vulnerability, trust, pain, tears, joy and laughter we all shared with one another and it really fills my heart. With all the crying, at least we ended the retreat with us all happy and smiling.
Learning that was familiar (or reinforced)
People
Having to work in the human services field for a couple of years now, I know based on experience that it takes more than just having a prestigious college degree and high intelligence to be successful and great in this line of work. From what I've seen, sometimes the people who actually care and have good intentions in their minds and hearts (regardless of their intellect or college degree) are the ones making huge impacts and contributions to the lives of the people they help and support. I am a strong believer of this and given all the teachings and reading materials we've had so far in this course, it is clear that it takes more than just having the brains to actually do good in supporting people, especially the youth.
One of the reasons that contributed to my decision in taking up this program was because of the awesome faculty members I've met and encountered throughout the process of applying for the program. I knew from the start that these are people who actually care about what they do and their students. The 1 year I've known and spoken with Ms. Victoria prior to the start of the program, I felt her kindness, openness and excitement about this entire endeavor and with me as well. In this retreat, I've got to meet the rest of the faculty members and I'm blown away and in awe of their stories and dedication to this field (and program).
Then I have my classmates and in the 5 weeks we've spent together in class, I quickly realized that I was in good company and these are awesome individuals who have their own reasons, knowledge and experiences as to why they chose to be in the program. With all the opinions and stories I hear and learn every class, I know that these are the people who can one day make a difference in the field of youth development -- that these are the kind of people we need running organizations that support the youth.
Learning that was new
RACISM
I feel weird putting this topic under this section. Racism has always been very interesting to me especially since I wasn't born and raised in the United States. I know and I'm fully aware that racism exists and it is found and experienced in all parts of the world, even in my own country. But I guess in a way, based on where I grew up, the impact of racism to the people affected by it is not as bad in my home country as it is here in the United States.
Back home, I've seen and witnessed racism growing up but it's mostly from the uneducated individuals. The worst scenario I'm familiar with is getting called names for being Chinese living in the Philippines. Of course there are also stories and events where Chinese families/ bosses would mistreat their Filipino helpers, etc. but I think it has to do more of being a bad person than being racist. As I'm writing this blog, I'm trying to think of how the Philippines or different institutions promote and perpetuate racism and I can't think of anything. There is not a policy, act or rule that promotes racism against a specific race in my country (that I know of).
However, what I've learned during the retreat is how serious and bad racism is in the United States and how in a way, it's been a way of how the country (government) has been operating since the early times. I didn't know about how the United States government changed the race classification of Mexicans to white to non-white and back to being white when they needed help from them. I was not aware of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882 when the United States starting deporting Chinese people after they've "used" them for the country's benefit.
This realization of mine is further strengthened by the video that was assigned this week where I learned about housing segregation in the United States and that it's all rooted in race/ racism. What's sad and infuriating is that the effects of racism in this country cannot just be solved by ignoring the acts or by mere education of people as it would've been the case in my home country. Here, people actually get hurt and even die because of racism. Young (and even unborn) children are already faced with so many problems of oppression just because of the color of their skin. Learning and finding out about all this was definitely eye-opening for me.
Commitment I am making
With the learning and realization from this experience, I commit to continuously learn and grow as a youth worker. I commit to learning about the different factors that can/ will impact and have an effect on my goal in becoming a great youth worker and ally of the youth. I'm going to make an effort to learn more about the history of the United States and the different events and policies that contributed to where the country is now. I want to learn more about everything involving this field so that I can be equipped in the future and do some good changes in this field and the world.
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