Hi everyone! I have had an amazing first week at One N Ten. But first, some updates.
So it turns out that I am not a volunteer. The youth at One N Ten range from
14 years old to 24, and I'm 17. I'm sure you can see how that would result in a
weird and awkward power balance. I talked to Mike Schneider, the Program Coordinator
at the Youth Center, and we decided that it would be best if I were to act as a youth.
Which works anyways, because I'm asexual and right in their age range.
Also, that book review that I was supposed to post this week - well, I chose the
absolute wordiest book ever to start out with. Purple prose everywhere. The writing is pretty,
I guess, but also pretty exhausting. Also, I'm 300 pages into a 529 page book,
and I just got to the part where Cal starts talking about when he was Calliope.
I'm beginning to think that this book is less about Cal's identity struggles
and more about the epic tale of an inbred family moving from Greece to America.
But I'll save that for my review.
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| Will this book ever end? |
My time at One N Ten has been pretty great. The Youth Center is open from 4 pm to 8 pm
Monday-Friday, and I attend the center every day except for Friday. Most everyone
shows up promptly at 4, and they get right to work doing whatever they want.
For some people, that means just hanging out in a corner, reading, or working on
one of the four computers that are provided. For others, it means art projects. My first day I
walked in on two youth excitedly making a poster for their upcoming drag show,
which, as far as I can tell, is going to be organized and put on by the youth at the center.
Yesterday they were trying on outfits and drag names, running from the closet
in the back to the general room in the front to model each outfit in front of an adoring crowd.
Everyone is so enthusiastic and supportive of each other. It's really great to see.
Every day, at around 5:15, we start Group. All the youth, staff, and volunteers sit in
a circle and introduce themselves by stating their name, age, preferred pronouns, and
their answer to that day's ice breaker. Preferred pronouns refer to one's gender, or
how one wants their gender to be perceived as. For example, my pronouns are she, her, hers,
indicating that I identify as a girl.
From there we go into that day's activity. On Monday we chose to play games;
a couple people played chess while I attempted to survive Monopoly (if you have
guessed that I'm not very good at Monopoly, you are correct).
On Wednesday we had Empowerment Group, during which we talked about
different kinds of assertive personalities, from those who are terrified to put themselves
out there to those who thrive on being the center of attention. After that we discussed how
people often only show the world a certain part of themselves - the "tip of the iceberg," as
we called it - while there's a whole rest of a person under the water. The youth around me
opened up about their insecurities, their mental issues, and their flaws, resulting
in very serious and healthy conversations.
On Thursday, we made icon collages. Mine ended up focusing on animals,
since most of the magazines revolved around fashion or motorcycles, and I'm not really
into either. But I am into animals.
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| Simplistic, but I do find inspiration in the natural world. |
And what's fantastic is that every activity we do can be applied to other groups as well.
Nothing centers around their LGBTQ status - we're all just humans
(who happen to be LGBTQ) being happy in the same space. The goal of the
Youth Center seems to be just to provide a space for youth who are bullied for
their gender identity or sexuality to be happy and supported.
I am so inspired by the youth who come to the Youth Center.
Some of them have gone through truly rough experiences, but they always maintain
such optimistic and positive attitudes. Every day I have been struck by how
enthusiastic and inclusive the people are at the Youth Center.
Just by providing a space for the youth to be themselves,
One N Ten has created a community where there is almost no negative energy.
(I don't want to say there is absolutely no negativity, because I've only been here a week,
and also I've been raised by the AP rule that you Never Trust an Absolute Answer in a
multiple choice question scenario).
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| This is how people greet each other. And every hug is heartfelt. |
I am so excited to go back next week. And to write that book review.
I wasn't able to get in any pictures of my cats this week, but hopefully you appreciated
my icon collage.
If you guys have any suggestions for the next book that I read, please feel free
to post them in the comments!
to post them in the comments!
