During my VISTA year I would define success as making the smallest change in a child’s life. This is whether I can help them learn how to deal with their emotions; for example, when they get mad I teach them other methods to cope with their anger rather than lashing out at teachers or classmates. Success in a school environment is very much open; kids are constantly learning weather it is from teachers, school aides or even friends.
Success to me is goal related set by others or myself. If I achieve that goal then I have been successful, which I measure on the difficulty and effort in achieving that goal. The reaction from children when they see me as a mentor and not someone who is there to add on to their school load, to me success is the students taking what I have taught them and implementing it in their everyday routine.
The skill sets/ assets I have that will help me and have already helped me during my VISTA year all have either been obtained from my own personal experiences or I have learned through others. One of the assets I bring to the table is always being adaptable and managing change, in a school environment it is very difficult sometimes to set a plan that will be followed step by step. It comes in handy to always have a backup in case my original plan will not work out, doing so without it flustering me is another skill that I have learned over the years. I also use my smile, as corny as that may seem these kids are constantly being told what to do and how to behave and a simple smile is truly a game changer with these kids. I have seen a child go from sad and sitting in the corner to happy and joining his table to play with friends all because I was able to approach him with a smile and make him laugh. Kids are always teaching you things I make sure that I have an open mind with any activity I do because I never know when one of them will surprise me with information I have never had before.
Tuqa Youssef, Promise Team Sunset Park
