Agent of Change

Social workers are familiar with this term...we heard it in university - we are agents of change, and that can come in many forms. Today was a good day, and in a field of work where they don't always come easy, we learn to cherish each good day and use it to pull us through the crappy ones. Certainly since beginning my job, the crappy ones have been few and far between, considering I have few child protection files. Actually, I have one child protection file and the rest are support services (voluntary).

This morning I was presenting my Thursday morning Healthy Relationships program at the school, however we played Relationship Bingo today and my first two classes thoroughly enjoyed it, and I felt like I finally made a connection with some of them. They've been a very quiet bunch, which is quite unlike any other youths I've worked with in the past. Other youth have been mouthy, outspoken, hyper, and often downright rude. These youth are much more respectful, and although we still have a few "clowns" who like to tease and joke, they apologize immediately for anything they feel might be taken the wrong way. I've noticed that most of the residents use a common phrasing - when they say something that they are only kidding about, they will simply say it, then very quickly laugh and say "no, I'm just kidding". Absolutely no variation on this phrase whatsoever, and I hear it every single day from someone, somewhere, particularly from the receptionist. Interesting....anyhow, I digress. During my first two groups, the kids actually took the material and applied it to their own lives, and the surprise came when a female youth recognized her own behaviour in her last relationship as being unhealthy, and now understood it might be part of the reason her boyfriend broke up with her - a true lightbulb moment. Nice.

This afternoon I had a meeting regarding a youth who was in trouble for attendance issues for a vocational program he was enrolled in, along with most of the other students. An opportunity came for me to speak up, and I had quite a motivational moment. It was a risk, being an outsider, white, government worker, and unrelated to anyone there. And it went over really well. I asked my youth about it later and he said it was "pretty cool". Nice. Very nice. Anyone who works with youth at risk will know that these words do not come easy.

I was reviewing the day with my boss after returning from the meeting, and she said to me "have I told you how glad I am that you're here?". Glow...

The final hour of my workday was spent with this youth, discussing some serious stuff, and then a whole lotta bonding time, chatting about pretty near everything. Again, with most youth, they are often in a hurry to get the hell out of there, but here was this youth, who came in to see me, we had long since covered the serious stuff, and he hung out until the other office folks began to pack up and move out. And I loved every minute of it.

It's days like this that tell me two things - I made the right change to leave Intake CP; and I am good at what I do. What a nice feeling.