This Wednesday and Friday I went to my internship at a runaway youth shelter located in Redlands. Each day was a completely different experience due to differences in the youth’s feelings. Wednesday I struggled because the boys were pushing me and testing my authority. It is interesting because the girls see me as a celebrity. I feel more comfortable when I am working with the girls, but being strong and maintaining authority is an important skill to develop. Friday I just worked with the boys because one of the girls had a migraine and the other girl was having health issues. It makes me sad going there because there are problems that I cannot help with. I leave and it is not like things will be better tomorrow.

The boys were all pretty sad on Friday. It is interesting to observe the differences in the youth advocates. One of the youth advocates on Friday really acknowledged each youth. During snack the youth took turns answering questions such as how are you feeling on a scale of one to ten? Why? What are your goals for the week? What is your favorite food? The youth advocate carefully looked at each youth while they were speaking. The youth advocate gave whoever was speaking complete attention. If another youth spoke when it was not his turn the youth advocate would firmly and calmly reminded the youth that it was not their turn.

An ongoing struggle that I have observed is when the youth are supposed to do their homework. I have never witnessed successful homework time. The youth have so much going on that they are unable to concentrate on their work. This is a painful time, the youth are so bored. I wish that I could interest them with what they are learning. I try but I am still struggling with learning how to do so.