change. this is africa.

Being a Young Life leader (or probably anyone involved in this AMAZING ministry) you know you have to be flexible. Things change constantly, but change can be good. I have started fundraising for my trip to Liberia and recently received an e-mail from the YL staff which began: “Hello former Liberia Team!” And I was unsure how to react, but as I continued to read I found out we are still going to Africa, just a change in location. I am going to be doing the same work but in Kenya now! I am so excited for what is next no matter what changes happen along the way. Because change can be hard, but it is good. Please feel free to visit the Young Life Expeditions website at: http://bridgethegapafrica.com/ to learn more about the trips. This is Africa [1]

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[1] Picture from website: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.brillonline.nl/public/kenya.jpg&imgrefurl=http://kenya-elections-crisis.gemzies.com/show/entry_6472/Africa_Map___Kenya.html&usg=__uhldk8U-xwbw8Jchedi04vJbiiA=&h=1299&w=1260&sz=77&hl=en&start=0&sig2=SZ8xAuTJp4ugv62SvzXu9w&zoom=1&tbnid=mkxqs0hekIYpJM:&tbnh=138&tbnw=133&ei=_99nTcnUIoz0tgO8xeSoBA&prev=/images%3Fq%3DKenya%2Bon%2Bafrica%2Bmap%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1440%26bih%3D743%26tbs%3Disch:10%2C114&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=417&vpy=116&dur=1062&hovh=228&hovw=221&tx=114&ty=124&oei=_99nTcnUIoz0tgO8xeSoBA&page=1&ndsp=32&ved=1t:429,r:10,s:0&biw=1440&bih=743

hot mess

The public school system in the United States is a hot mess.

When you teach someone something, and they really understand it, it is so rewarding. I am an American Sign Language tutor, and when one of the girls I tutor brought me her grade print out (ranked first in class), it was a great feeling. Almost like seeing an AVID student getting their high school diploma and head off to college. A-MA-ZING.

My Young Life director told me one day that one in ten high school students in the United States go to high school somewhere in Los Angeles County.

One in ten.

That means there are maybe two million high school students in LA County.

I do life with them on average three days a week. Today, I gave my third class presentation to high school students on suicide. Suicide is the third leading cause of death in adolescents, next to accidents and homicide. But let me tell you, standing in front of a class full of high school kids, talking about something very serious and very relevant to their life, might be one of the scariest things I have ever had to do. Because they appear to not be listening, or give a rats rear what you are saying. But they do, and it shows (especially in post-presentation surveys).

But I am just an intern. I cannot (and would never) yell at a kid to be quiet, because I know that if only one kid takes something away from my presentation, only one, I did my job.

Teaching is hard. But I can see how it is rewarding.

So for everyone studying to be a teacher, or currently teaching, or you are similar to me and you are just an intern walking into this hot mess of a system...

I applaud you.