The Catalyst for Becoming an Educator
Introduction
Empowering and connecting with young, impressionable minds to enact positive change for this peer group is my focus as an imminent educator. I feel inspired to motivate a young population on a daily basis. Choosing to work with juveniles as my life’s calling was not an easy decision to make due to my shy personality. I realized from the onset that this characteristic represented a challenge that needed an effective solution if I wanted to guide adolescents. Nevertheless, I stepped out of my comfort zone by enhancing my communication and interpersonal skills. While it seems a daunting responsibility, my current youth worker position facilitates the complexities involved when working with a population that brings a set of factors that challenge forward-thinking educators in forming fruitful and rewarding relationships that benefit both mentor and student. The ability to connect with my local youth population in a relatable and productive method has its unique roadblocks for both actors. In this essay, I provide two applicable examples that demonstrate how my youth work proficiencies in professional and volunteer environments aid in my transition to educator. The first relates my employment at the Abbotsford Youth Commission; the second briefly examines my volunteer/leadership role in different community surroundings.
Competency Highlights for Becoming an Educator
In my current employment at the Abbotsford Youth Commission, I witness firsthand how factors such as mysterious characters and diverse natures invite professionals working with a young population always to better their abilities to engage comprehensively with youths. For this essential reason, I firmly believe that a prospective educator must foster and enrich that teaching capacity developed in unofficial settings to hone this ability for later teaching skills. In this framework, my role as a youth worker provides the necessary foundation for transitioning to a full-time educator. Since 2012, youth work teaches me to emphasize the importance of informal education in students’ lives. Through casual processes, youth workers learn to engage profoundly with minors, to assist a younger generation to manage self-esteem issues, and to promote the development of a well-rounded, thoughtful personality. Improving the personal and student social development stimulates their ability to engage in essential and relevant talent that contributes to their interest in finding a formal educational path, suitable to a young person’s interests.
A practical example of informal education occurs when a student expresses apathy, feels underrated, and undergoes self-doubting periods. At this critical juncture for students, my role is to provide inspiration and motivation, facilitating the former’s self-confidence and belief in that their efforts and diligence assists in their individual development. In my supporting, encouragement role, I tap into young people’s desires to feel enthusiastic about learning and act as a catalyst in helping connect their hobbies or interests with a formal educational path. In assisting students with determining a knowledge base for formal education, I also collaborate with educators.
As a youth worker, I help create an optimistic ambience for nurturing knowledge absorption. Establishing this setting also helps a youth worker who decides to pursue an educator journey. From the perspective of the youth worker/teacher, it is easier to adapt to students’ particular characteristics or to tailor a curriculum to an individualistic approach. Educators need to take mental notes they work in diverse situations where both bright minds and distinctive features are standard. Forging that student readiness route depends on a variety of factors that include social background, family relationships, personal surroundings, and living conditions. Perceptive and talented youth workers comprehend the need to focus on the personality of the upcoming student, including the overall development and deterrence of potentially destructive features of the aforementioned external components.
In my capacity, I have the privilege to accumulate both a wide-range of knowledge and skill sets in working with diverse communities, broad cultural contexts and a variety of institutions. This profound and rich understanding affords learning experiences that facilitate my progress towards the role of educator. My present occupation at Abbotsford Youth Commission only stimulates my interest in furthering my career track by working in a more cohesive manner with young people. Although I acknowledge that an educational profession brings its set of endeavors, I feel self-assured and secure with the proficiencies and skills obtained as a youth worker represent the building blocks in manifesting my educator vocation. Throughout my formation and career path, I maintain a passion for helping youth evolve towards becoming assertive people in their personal and professional lives.
A second, complementary example that propels my educator objective comes with my volunteer work in a variety of different milieus. Early on, I understood the importance of guiding a younger generation to strive for better opportunities. Starting in 2010, my volunteer enthusiasm for mentoring local community youths reach and surpass their potential began as an assistant coach at Mission Soccer Club. While participating in all soccer-related activities were essential in my two-year tenure, initiating and maintaining a constructive and dynamic relationship with the players, parents, and the community was rewarding, as I continued building a deeper presence in youth-related activities. In other volunteer capacities that strengthen my abilities to connect youth to education, I worked to raise community awareness, fundraise for Matthew’s House. My evolving mentoring competencies continued as children’s mentor for the Big Brother/Big Sister Program. Volunteerism at Matthew’s House and the Big Brother/Big Sister Program benefitted from my work at Abbotsford where I gained related experience with interacting with adolescents in varied scenes and motivated me to aspire to a full-time educator career.
Conclusion
Constructing my career as a youth worker has been a rewarding, challenging, and motivating one. Due to my youth development work in community centers, youth organizations and classroom locations, I want to progress by expanding my competencies to a formal, school setting. The hands-on youth worker experience affords me the opportunity to collaborate directly with school personnel. It also permits me to identify both strengths and weaknesses that aid in my evolution towards being an educator. With this self-evaluation, I assess the blended qualities needed to transition from youth worker to educator. In my professional capacity, I comprehend the particular struggles that individuals grapple with every day and how motivation is a game-changing factor. To help young people prepare for school, work, and life, I witness the relevance of education on a daily basis. I am cognizant of the impact I have made in many young lives and the auspicious, life-changing decisions students made afterward. As an educator, I will continue being a transformational, inspirational leader for youth by connecting them to their potential to make productive connections and trajectories for their future.
