My YDEV Story!

What is your Youth Development Autobiography (aka My YDEV Story)?

As I was graduating high school and entering college I knew I wanted to be a teacher. I was in the child development program, babysat, worked at a daycare and did volunteer hours at the Trudeau center in Warwick. All of these experiences involved children, and being a teacher was my goal and at the time, I thought if I wanted to work with children teaching was my only option, I was wrong. I came to RIC as an early childhood major with a minor in special ed. As I was taking my required courses for my major and doing small practicums in early childhood settings, I started to realize I was going into a career to basically teach students how to test. Meaning, everything was revolved around making sure the students were where they should be for their age level and grade level and also making sure they were prepared for every standardized test. This was something that I was not enjoying any longer. In my ECED 290 class it incorporated social work and I became very interested in social work that involved youth. This is when I discovered Youth Development. I was talking to a friend about how I wanted to work with youth and liked social work but I did not want to be a social worker and she suggested Ydev. That day, I emailed Corrine and set up an appointment to learn more about the program and I was hooked. When I took my first Ydev class it was nothing like my early childhood classes. We had meaningful discussions and assignments where we weren't tested on competence, we were challenged and taught to think critically and view youth differently. I also love that with Youth Development I can take my degree anywhere and there are so many different possibilities and opportunities I can have. My ydev journey will never end as long as I continue to expand my knowledge and take my education further to advocate and lead with today's youth.