Week 5:
Catching up and Wrapping up

July 28, 2019

Since my last blog post, a lot has happened. I apologize for the time delay as I’ve had a nasty case of strep for nearly 3 weeks. Because of this, I have only been in the office a few days here and there. One important event was the midterm review I had with my supervisor Lizzy on the 17th. A few weeks into the internship, we set three goals for the internship related to youth work. 

1. Build rapport with youth participants while holding appropriate boundaries
2. Address and facilitate youth conflict and problem-solving
3. Structure conversations and content appropriately for different ages and developmental stages

Before our midterm review meeting, Lizzy had me evaluate where I felt my proficiency was with each skill. It has definitely been a challenge working with young people who are not only close in age to me, but often share multiple identities. Although Pride Youth serves LGBTQ+ youth ages 4-24, the majority of young people in our programming this summer have been in high school. When queer and trans participants are so close in age to me, its hard to hold appropriate boundaries as the individual in the adult role. I have definitely improved on this skill, but I know I have a lot more to learn. I can’t wait to see what future opportunities in LGBTQ+ youth work will open up. One thing my supervisor and I have discussed is the role of shared identity in LGBTQ+ youth work. I used to think that everyone in LGBTQ+ youth work should identify as LGBTQ+ because they are closest to the struggles, but shared identity often gets in the way. My role as an adult in Pride Youth is to facilitate relationships between other young people, not to build my own personal relationships with young people. My experience as a trans person who transitioned in college fairly independently is going to be extremely different than that of a trans eighth grader. Supportive relationships with parents is the number one predictor of success for queer youth, so it is important to build relationships with parents as well. I have definitely learned a lot so far this summer about youth work in general and LGBTQ+ youth work, and I look forward to learning more as my internship continues.

Action Camp preparations are in full swing, with most of the supplies ordered and camp materials printed. I unfortunately missed a few of the Youth Leader meetings while I was sick, but I am confident that their workshops for camp will be fantastic. I was also assigned to the operations team during my time at camp, so I will be assisting with all sorts of logistical tasks to enhance campers’ experiences. Over the past few weeks I’ve also helped organize camper information forms as we need to have their health information readily available during camp. I can’t believe camp is in a week!

I also spent time working on my activity binder project, developing a template, reviewing and formatting the activities that have been submitted so far. Many of the activities are creative, and my favorite activity is “Gender as a Home”, pictured below. I can imagine this being a fantastic activity for gender non conforming folks of all ages. This project is mostly done on the digital end, I am just waiting for more staff submissions. My youth evaluations report is also being wrapped up, which I will discuss in more detail in my next blog. 

On my first day back from being sick we had a Pride Summer Cookout in the evening, which was great fun. Pictured are prideLEAD members Yulian and Lee. They are also Youth Leaders for Action Camp.  I really enjoyed connecting with youth I’d met before and seeing new faces.