I grew up in a very strict home, with no encouragement to formulate my own ideas or thoughts. I learned to form my own values and instead of telling people what they were, I used action to portray who I was. Although I have many values in my life, listed below are 5 of which I hold dear to my heart the most. I believe these 5 values are important to my future career field as a Child and Youth Care Practitioner.
Empathy
Empathy has been a very important part of my life, and I do believe it is an important aspect of Child and Youth Care. I identify myself as someone who is an empath, which means I am highly sensitive to feeling others emotions, fears, or feelings. I believe it is so important to have empathy, especially when working with children/youth, so you can put yourself into their shoes. Empathy helps you understand why someone is who they are, or what someone may need.
As I have worked with children in the past as an assistant Sunday school teacher, empathy has helped me to understand the children when they were acting under states of anxiety or stress. These children were naturally drawn to my energy when they were under stress, and I was able to calm their emotions using peaceful speech and ‘outside-of-the-box’ perspectives.
Compassion
Compassion ties into the value of empathy, however, compassion is more about seeing the need, and wanting to help in any way possible, instead of feeling the need.
I believe that compassion is a crucial part of being able to cater to everyone’s individuality. I have great compassion for other people and their needs, and because I can also feel what people need, I will be able to quickly assist anyone who walks through my metaphorical door.
Compassion is important in the CYC field because everyone we will come across will have an identifiable need, and addressing it in the most peaceful and accepting way will help the person grow the most.
Creativity
It can be hard to enjoy life without being surrounded by creativity! There are many forms of creativity that have kept me going throughout my life such as painting, making jewelry, writing, music, and cooking! Creativity can help with regulating emotions as well as expressing oneself. I feel that if I wasn’t exposed to the creative influences that I did have, I would not be here today. Creativity was my escape; it really did save me.
Sometimes a child or youth will feel like they have no talents or abilities, and doing creative activities with them can help them to unlock who they really are. All it can take sometimes is a little encouragement from the right people, and the child or youth will feel so happy to finally be able to express themselves!
Trust
Trust is a very important value in my life, as I’ve had my trust broken many times. It is important to know you can trust who you surround yourself with daily, so harm or abuse does not fall upon you.
Many children/youth in crisis have been so hurt in their past that their trust can sometimes be completely gone. They will shield themselves up; hide their emotions for no one to see. They feel so hurt by their past, that they may feel as if they can never trust again.
I hope someday I can help tear down the walls of distrust in children/youth and help them see that there are still good people in this world; good people that care deeply.
Earning the trust of a child/youth can be a difficult process, but the outcome of knowing you impacted their life is worth every moment of struggle.
Health
Health is so important to me! A healthy mind, body and spirit act together like a complete circle; one cannot exist without the other. It can often be difficult to manage all three facets of your life as a healthy individual, but it is not impossible. Some days there may be cracks in the circle, but also having healthy relationships and healthy habits can repair those cracks.
I think it would be very exciting someday to organize a group session about living a healthy life and what that means.
When people talk about health, they most often refer to the physical body, however it is so much more than that. Taking care of your mind and spirit is just as important, and many children/youth may not have knowledge of that.
As a CYC, being a good influence of a healthy lifestyle will help children/youth around me to realize that it is important, and it is not something to brush off.
