YMC = Learning

As I prepare for my Presentation of Learning (POL) for Public Allies, I find myself completely transformed as an individual after working at YMC. Growing up, people always said “You can change the world one person at a time” and all I could do was laugh. With my revolutionary perspective I did not agree that one person at a time was enough; I wanted to tear down the system and restructure society all in one action. After working at YMC I have found that in order to use my power as an individual, a Latina, and really put my education to use I needed to realize that some of the most important change comes in small sizes. Although my revolutionary perspective is stronger than ever, it has evolved by what I have experienced in the “real world.” The daily interactions I had with the young people that we work with, the college information that I provided them, the personal talks they felt comfortable with having, and the humanizing perspective behind all we do is what is changing the world.

In my POL I must focus on what I have learned in the past 10-months as an ally and one of my most powerful lessons has been that our youth will only be committed to changing and improving their lives once they see that they have a society that is willing to support them along the way. Most of my previous work experience had been with youth; tutoring them in math, helping them with their personal statements for college, and just simply being a young adult they can talk to about life. Every one of those jobs has had an impact on my development as a young professional but it was not until I saw the beauty in fostering a strong, loving, and honest relationship between a young person and a mentor that I saw young people come alive.

It is difficult to think that many young people live in the shadows and many compare their life to that of a zombie. I’ve had the privilege of listening to them recite their poetry or to them speak about their personal problems at home, school, or neighborhood and I now fully understand what this society does to our youth. We neglect them, provide them with a crappy education system, and bombard them with pop culture yet write newspaper articles and breaking news stories on their low academic performance, gang violence, and low graduating rates.

Now more than ever, I am ready to be committed and dedicated to creating better communities and a better society for the generations that follow us.

Agueda