[Community-service] Volunteering with teenagers/Setting yourself apart as a volunteer

[Chris Parsons]

Darian and all,

There are definitely opportunities with this group to mentor via role 
modeling. When I get discouraged about my difficulties in playing the 
volunteer role, I remember that one of the things I do love about helping 
with this group is that they do always have questions and are always 
interested in knowing how my friends and I do things. A lot of them have 
quite a bit of residual vision, but I think they all would definitely 
benefit from learning some nonvisual techniques. A couple of months ago, one 
of them was having some trouble locating the stairs, and I stood back to let 
him explore and see if he could find them (he did soon after), and one of 
the volunteers who was standing near me said that even after working with 
kids for so many years, she still has trouble doing that: just standing back 
and letting them figure things out. So I definitely think there are 
opportunities to role model there as someone who has had to learn the same 
skills. I just have to convince myself to get out there and model the skills 
I see them needing, which is often easier said than done.

And I do love talking to them about things. Maybe that's one thing I could 
focus on: sitting down with them more individually or in small groups and 
talking about things they're dealing with or experiences we have in common, 
since we are somewhat close in age and since that seems to be where I'm most 
comfortable when working with this group.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Chris

-----Original Message----- 
From: Darian Smith
Sent: Wednesday, December 14, 2011 10:40 PM
To: Community Service Discussion List
Subject: Re: [Community-service] Volunteering with teenagers/Setting 
yourself apart as a volunteer

Chris,

what you ask is something not unfamiliar to some of  us,  and
certainly nothing to be ashamed of.   Knowing that these are blind
teens tells me that  there may possibly be oppertunities to  Mentor
via role modeling.
Show a student howyou serve yourself, if you see someone struggling
to  do something visually, show them  how you use non-visual
techniques to do the same thing.
   Other times, it's talking about the struggles that these teens have
being blind and growing up, because you have expirienced those
things, it is totally fine to talk about those things.
  Just some thoughts.
  Darian


On 12/14/11, Chris Parsons <christine-parsons at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
>
>
> A couple friends and I sometimes volunteer with a group for blind teens 
> that
> I was a member of in middle and high school. The kids really love when we’re
> there, and they always have a lot of questions. But something has been on 
> my
> mind almost ever since I started volunteering with them, and I was hoping
> some of you might have some thoughts.
>
>
>
> Maybe it’s because I was once a member of the group and now have a hard 
> time
> thinking of myself as a volunteer, or maybe it’s because I’m fairly
> introverted around most people, but most of the time when I volunteer with
> these kids I just feel like another member of the group. I think one of 
> the
> benefits of working with groups where some of the people are close to your
> age is the ability to relate to them and for them to relate to you. I’ve
> definitely seen that happen as I’ve worked with this group. But a
> disadvantage is that I often find it hard to distinguish myself from the
> group and take on a leadership role. I’ve had kids half my age ask me if I
> need help getting from one place to another, and the other volunteers 
> often
> bring me cups of juice or napkins at lunch before I even have a chance to 
> go
> get my own. All of this leaves me not feeling very volunteer-like to these
> kids or very equal to the other volunteers. The times when I feel most
> comfortable are when my friends and I are standing in front of the group
> doing a presentation/Q and A on college prep or something similar rather
> than helping the kids with a craft or fitness activity.
>
>
>
> So, there seems an obvious solution to this: Be more self-confident. And I
> know that is something I need to work on, in service settings and in
> general. I also know that some of it is plain confidence related and some 
> of
> it is blindness skills related. And now that I think about it, I suppose
> this isnt really just a question applicable to working with groups of 
> youth.
> As blind people, in whatever type of service we choose to do, we are 
> likely
> to come across situations where the others in our group of volunteers and
> those who we are helping see us as needing help instead.
>
>
>
> I’ve been a little nervous to put this forward because, as I said above, 
> on
> the surface the solution seems pretty clear-cut and something that I need 
> to
> work on myself. But the article that was posted yesterday about how 
> service
> can be good for your health if you are doing something that is a good fit
> for you and something you enjoy finally inspired me to put this out there 
> in
> hopes that some of you have had similar experiences and might be able to
> offer some thoughts. I would love to keep working with this group, and the
> kids really seem to like me and look up to me as a mentor, but I need to
> figure out how to be an effective volunteer, too.
>
>
>
> Chris
>
>


-- 
Darian Smith

"To dream what is possible and to put oneself in service of that dream is 
the
formula
for a life well lived."

- Dr. Peter Benson

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