Fall 2016
Cultural Eye: A Creative Lens for New York's Diversity
To me, culture is defined as what makes humans uniquely different from one another. I say this because the YouthBridge Cultural Eye Committee, which I am a part of, has helped all of the participants explore what diversity means to us through the culture and art of photography...
Spotlight on...
Matthew Roberts is a Junior at Williamsburg Preparatory High School.
Cultural Eye: A Creative Lens for New York's Diversity
By Matthew Roberts
To me, culture is defined as what makes humans uniquely different from one another. I say this because the YouthBridge Cultural Eye Committee, which I am a part of, has helped all of the participants explore what diversity means to us through the culture and art of photography. In the first Cultural Eye meeting we got to know one another and saw a video on the components of photography and how to use Flickr. Flickr is a photo sharing site online, and it is a key component of the cultural eye program, as in every session we are given an assignment with different types of pictures we have to take, which we then upload and put on Flickr so that everyone in the committee can see! For the first Cultural Eye homework we had to take 5 pictures that we felt best described us. It was really interesting to see the types of pictures that people took.
The second committee meeting was about identity and the idea of what makes us different from everybody else. We were first presented with the question “what is identity?” One of the committee members said that “identity is knowing one’s self and characteristics.” During the meeting, we all had index cards and had to put down what we think describes us, and what we like vs what we don’t like. Then we had to say how would this be shown if put into a picture. Everybody's answers were different, and we learned that although we are all teenagers, we are all different from one another. Identity is the key to knowing yourself and what makes you stand out from everybody else, and although you might share some connections with other people you also have so much inside you that makes you different.
After that meeting we were given a homework assignment for the third committee meeting to photograph what we feel represents the word ‘family.’ That third committee meeting was about diversity and community. We began that meeting like the previous one where we were given a focus question that we had to answer with our own opinion. After that, we presented our pictures on family to the group. All the pictures were amazing because of how different they were; we really got to see the different viewpoints on the assignment. We then watched a TEDtalk video about different perspectives, and how we see things vs how other see it. We were then given our monthly homework, this time the assignment of the month was to take 3 pictures on what we think community is. The beauty of Cultural Eye is that even though we have to take pictures on the same topics, no photographs ever repeat. We all view the assignments and lessons so differently from one another, and that is what culture is all about.
Check out some of the Cultural Eye Committee members photographs on identity and family thanks to:
Abisola Akinfenwa Ishika Kasliwal Aisha Khan
Jared Lopez Charlize Marinez Matthew Roberts
Dell Wednesdae Tangente Jaclyn Wildes Davida Krauss
Alyssa Garraway Ayelet Kalfus
Ashley Bisram is a Junior at Queens High School for the Sciences at York College.
Fellows Find Their Way
By Ashley Bisram
The YouthBridge-NY Fellowship has had three Skill-Building meetings thus far focusing on communication and tolerance.
The September meeting began with an interactive game in which each of us was given a slip of colored paper that made us abide by certain interactions with people of different colors. The activity strengthened the sentiment that effective communication with new people is a necessity, as their beliefs and way of life may differ radically from ours based on their culture. Without effective communication, either party may end up unintentionally doing something offensive.
The importance of communication was reinforced in the October meeting, where we were given an enlightening talk by YouthBridge-NY Board Member Marsha Haygood of StepWise Associates. She taught us about how first impressions are shaped through the way we present ourselves, including body language and public speaking, which can be applied to professional settings. Something I found particularly interesting from the materials Marsha provided was that touching your neck while speaking, something I had previously done subconsciously in casual settings, is a sign of deceit. When asking Marsha after her talk about how much our first impressions matter in casual settings, she discussed how we shouldn’t always be dependent on what others think of us, but we should want to be in control of how we come off to them.
Fellows get acquainted with each other at their first meeting of the year
Although we learned in our October meeting that we can control the first impressions we give to people, at our November meeting we talked a bit more about how we shouldn’t judge others based on those impressions with Don Kao at Project Reach, our first meeting outside of the YouthBridge office. Don had us participate in a game called the Boat Activity, which caused a mixture of frustration and excitement. Don told us a short story on how 14 people were on a roof during a storm with a rising flood and there was a boat that could only hold 10 people, whose descriptions were given. Using our listening skills in small groups, we had to use consensus building techniques to figure out who to save and how to save them. After sharing our solutions, Don told us that there was no right answer, and we had a discussion on labels versus descriptions of people. We, as participants in the activity, saw the descriptions and made them into labels in our own minds. Together, we discussed the topics of discrimination and prejudices against different groups, as well as how we should avoiding judgment of someone entirely based on what little we may know about them.
We learned a lot about each other and about the topics aforementioned through these past three meetings, and I’m sure we all are looking forward to learning more throughout the rest of the year!
Emily Ma is a Senior at Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan.
Bridgers Discuss identity
By Emily Ma
In our meeting in October, we met at Project Reach to discuss homosexuality and homophobia with Don Kao. Don began by asking us the question, "When did you first realize homosexuality existed?" Most people said they didn't know homosexuality existed until age 10 or 11, when they were exposed to it through television or through conversations. I also found out about homosexuality at around that age, when my classmates would often use the word "gay" in a derogatory way. This negative connotation to the word made itself apparent when Don asked us the next question: "How would you react if someone thought you were gay?" In our discussion, we thankfully all agreed that we are not inherently against being gay, but it was revealed that a lot of us would feel defensive if someone were to think that, because the associations of being labeled as gay are almost always negative. We discussed how people typically make the assumption that you are gay if you act in a way that the opposite sex stereotypically would - like a feminine male or a masculine female - which we realized implicitly reinforces gender roles and behaviors. This helped me understand how sexism toward both genders contributes to homophobia, and that in order to help combat it, we must be able to transcend prevalent and constricting gender norms. We ended this meeting with an activity where we each said we were gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender around in a circle in order to stand in solidarity with those of us who were out of, and potentially in, the closet, and to show that Youthbridge is a safe space for all.
Bridgers enjoying a skill-building session at Project Reach, where they discussed the topics of Homophobia and Hetero-Sexism.
In our most recent meeting in November, we again met with Don Kao at Project Reach the day after the election results came out. Emotions were high and politics had been in the forefront of the nation's psyche that week, so we felt that it was important to start by talking about the election. Firstly, we acknowledged that though we are diverse, we do not represent all of the different American demographics and political beliefs, but we would be as understanding and respectful of those differences as possible. Then we dove in and shared how we felt about the outcome and the election season as a whole, as well as our fears and hopes for the upcoming presidency. It was relieving to be in a space where I felt comfortable in expressing my feelings about the election, and it was also eye opening to discuss the larger social factors that influenced the outcome, such as sexism, nationalism, and elitism.
Afterwards, we shifted gears to talk about the correlation between identification and social control, and it made me realize how institutions can use identification systems to target a certain demographic and establish a tense environment. It reminded us of how some schools require ID scans in and out of the building and even metal detectors, while others do not. Don asserted that although physical ID's represent you to the government, your identity ultimately represents who you are. To show the importance of self-identity, we did an activity where we displayed what made us who we are on a chart, based on categories including race, gender, wealth, health, and age. This made me realize not only which categories largely make me who I am, but also which categories make me feel most unsafe and in which I have the most privilege. It was also so interesting to see all of the factors that shape my fellow Bridgers, and it helped me know them even better. It made me feel that by understanding other people's identity better, we can become more tolerant and respectful of others' differences.
Wendy Lau is a Junior at Bronx High School of Science.
YouthBridge Gives Back: Teensgiving with 92Y
By Wendy Lau
On Sunday, November 13, YouthBridge Fellows and Bridgers participated in the 92nd Street Y's Teensgiving event along with other schools and youth groups, helping to contribute to the city by cleaning up NYC parks: raking leaves and adding mulch to soil for the trees. The weather was beautiful and sunny as we traveled to Crotona Park, located in the Bronx. In total, about 108 large bags of leaves were collected, which was a massive amount considering the leaves we raked were part of a very small section of the park. This contribution depicts how it is essential to give back to the community, and how a small difference like raking leaves and adding mulch can help to clean and enrich local parks for people to enjoy. It was an awesome day with YouthBridge, and it felt great to give back to the community!
Alumni Updates
YouthBridge-NY loves our alumni! This year we are working with our alumni on new strategies to ensure that YouthBridge-NY is a continuing community. Recently our alumni participated in a college information panel for our Bridgers, where they discussed how the lessons they learned in YouthBridge-NY impacted their college experience. A big thank you to alumni Lara Barak (Class of 2007), Seth Wittman (Class of 2005), Carolyn Collado (Class of 2012), Michelle Lee (Class of 2011), Ravi Seujattan (Class of 2009), and Taylor Rochester (Class of 2013) for taking the time time to speak to our Bridgers! Our alumni committee has also been busy planning different programs and activities to connect alumni with each other and with current fellowship participants.
Check out some photos of our alumni college information panel below.
If you are a YouthBridge-NY alum interested in being more involved in alumni activities and engagement contact Rebecca Abrams at abramsr@jcrcny.org
Spring 2016
NIGHT OF CELEBRATION FUNDRAISER
Our Annual Night of Celebration Fundraiser and Graduation took place on June 2, 2016. Check out pictures from the event...
Night of Celebration Fundraiser
Our Annual Night of Celebration Fundraiser and Graduation took place on June 2, 2016. Check out pictures from the event below!
Youth Summit Community Project Award Winners
We are proud to announce the winners of this year's Youth Summit Community Project Awards:
Above: Members of Fannie Lou Hamer Freedom High School Student Government at the Leaders to Leaders Youth Summit
- Fannie Lou Hamer Freedom High School
- Our main goal is to ensure that every student within Fannie Lou Hamer Freedom High School is exposed to cultural norms and religious beliefs outside of their own.
- South Bronx United Youth Council
- Our long term goal is to help people gain citizenship status at a quicker or more effective rate. We want to build a supportive community for the members of the SBU who are struggling with issues related to immigration.
- Harlem Renaissance High School
- Our school's first goal is to make a more comfortable and safe environment where everyone feels their voices can be heard without being judge or looked at differently because of their choice of words and or experiences.
Thank you to Tiger Baron Foundation for sponsoring these awards!
Have you seen our new video? Make sure to share it so everyone can learn about the great stuff going on here at YouthBridge-NY!
Cultural Eye Committee Photobook
Did you get a chance to see the Cultural Eye Committee's work this year? You can still purchase our photobook filled with the committee's favorite photos and support our teens!
Bridging the gap grant 2016
The Shared Resources for a Shared Future Committee was proud to award this year's Bridging the Gap Grant to the following organizations:
We chose Trinity Place Shelter because of their commitment to giving homeless LGBT youth a home and helping them create careers for themselves. They provide housing for many years and encourage them to pursue education.
We also chose Alex House Project’s Healthy Mommy, Healthy Baby program for providing support and education for young mothers. They give lessons about motherhood and provide supplies that these women need.
Molly and Sam, members of the Shared Resources for a Shared Future Committee, presenting this year's grant to our worthy grant winners.
Winter 2016
To kick off the new year, for the month of January the Bridgers had the opportunity to attend a Roundtable event. At this event, the Bridgers walked in dressed in their best business professional attire, with resumes in hand, for the speed mentoring program...
Bridgers Network with the Pros
by Sarah Rebarber
To kick off the new year, for the month of January the Bridgers had the opportunity to attend a Roundtable event. At this event, the Bridgers walked in dressed in their best business professional attire, with resumes in hand, for the speed mentoring program. Throughout the night, pairs of Bridgers would meet with a total of four different professionals, from four different backgrounds, to discuss networking etiquette and the professional world as a whole.
The main areas of focus were resume building, interview prep, personal branding, and networking. Having been in the business world, the mentors were able to help us with identifying our strengths and using them to “make a sale” to future employers or recruiters. Additionally, they stressed the importance of volunteering and giving back because the greatest opportunities could be somewhere where we would least expect it.
While the ice breaker questions consisted of questions concerning these four topics, we were encouraged to discuss any other aspects of the professional world we were curious about. For example, in one of my sessions my fellow Bridger, my mentor, and I discussed what and what not to wear when presenting yourself as a professional. Personally, I often struggle with trying to find an outfit that looks professional and fashionable at the same time. Her guidance and personal examples with this common struggle reminded me of the importance of striking a balance between the two and offered some advice on how she found that balance.
After the sessions, we had the opportunity to mingle with professionals we might not have met during the speed mentoring. By the end of the night we chatted, learned, and connected with many intellectual and admirable people.
Calling all Alumni!
A message from the YBNY Alumni Committee
Did you know that YouthBridge-NY has been operating for 19 years!? There have been 12 graduating classes since then. The YBNY Alumni Committee is in search of you! Alumni have come together to create initiatives and events to connect, network, grow, and give back! Be on the lookout for upcoming news and in the meantime let us know what you are up to at ybny-alumni-committee@googlegroups.com.
Fellows Go Overboard
by Zarif Mahmud
For the January Skill-Building Session, the Fellows met at Project Reach. Our speaker was Don Kao, a leader at Project Reach. The flavor of the day was tolerance. The first thing we did was introduce ourselves like usual, but with a twist. Everyone gathered in a circle, and while we said our name, school, and preferred pronoun, we tied part of a ball of yarn to our finger, and tossed it to someone else. This created a chain of string that overlapped itself, so when we finished, there was a crazy zigzagged web connecting all of us, that we could spin around and raise up and down. Afterwards we talked about some charged words like "diversity", which Don told us doesn't need to be defined and, "Just is."
After discussion, we moved on to the main activity, a thought experiment. We were split into groups of 4-5 and then told the story of a group of people trapped during a flood on the top floor of a building, with only a tiny boat to save them. Out of the fourteen people, only ten could fit inside at a time, and it was our job to figure out who to save. Before we started, we were assured that the riddle had a simple solution, but only the best listener would be able to find it. We were then given a huge piece of paper with a boat drawn on, along with fourteen index cards, which were supposed to represent the people. Each had descriptions written on them, like "Pregnant black woman", "Person with AIDS who's still having sex" or "Feminist". Everyone had trouble figuring out who to kick off the boat, because none of the reasons seemed good enough to definitively single a person out.
After ten minutes, each group taped their paper to a wall, and we compared our choices. Although our boats were mostly different, whether by chance or by unconscious discrimination, the "HIV+ Person who's still having sex" was left behind by all the boats. While some people justified this by saying that knowingly spreading diseases was wrong, Don reminded us that people with HIV could still use protection to prevent transmission. We discussed the rest of our choices and inherent biases, after which, the solution was revealed. We were told not to reveal it, in case of other people visiting, but rest assured, the solution was both outside the box and deceptively simple. Lastly, we discussed other examples of bias and discrimination, both in our everyday lives and in the world, touching on contentious issues like government welfare.
This meeting really opened my eyes to how my upbringing and biases color my perceptions of things, and it taught me to look at issues with different perspectives. Because so much of our lives are made up of snap-judgments and reactions, it's especially important to see how our personal views could cloud reality.
YouthBridge-NY On Ice
The Fellows and Bridgers got together this winter to go skating at Bryant Park. It was a fun day and everyone had a great time!
Bridgers Get Empathetic
By Grace Gribbon
Our December session focused on empathy vs. sympathy and how we often underestimate our own abilities. We were visited by Gloria and Felix, two trainers from United Cerebral Palsy, and their professional staffer Peter. Gloria and Felix are both affected by cerebral palsy and so simple things like traveling around the city can become extremely difficult. Imagine when you are on your way to work or school, you may often become frustrated by a delayed train or bus. For people like Gloria and Felix, who spend their lives in wheelchairs, they are lucky to board Access-A-Ride buses that don't have delays lasting for an hour or two.
Despite these challenges, Gloria and Felix told us that they don't want our sympathy. This is because sympathy can come off in a patronizing way, making them feel below you when you say things like "I am so sorry". Instead, they believe you should feel empathy while never underestimating their abilities. This is because when you come from a place of understanding and acceptance, you allow for people like Gloria and Felix to be more comfortable and encouraged to live fulfilling lives, regardless of their disability. Today, they both are employed and get to experience exciting things through the foundation, including scuba-diving! Gloria, Felix and Peter successfully informed YouthBridge about the importance of empathy and communication when attempting to make a connection with someone and to never underestimate one's abilities, including your own!
Recruiting Next Year's Fellows
Do you know a high school sophomore who would be a good fit for YouthBridge-NY? Applications are open for our next class of Fellows! Make sure to help spread the word!
Bridging the Gap Grant 2016
The Shared Resources for a Shared Future Committee is getting ready to award grants up to $2000! Check out our Request for Proposals!
Fall 2015
Just a few weeks after meeting each other at the retreat, the fellows came together for their first brainstorming meeting. The meeting, which was led by Karen and Haley, focused on leadership styles and culture.
Fellows Find their Directions
by Gabi Cantor
Just a few weeks after meeting each other at the retreat, the fellows came together for their first brainstorming meeting. The meeting, which was led by Karen and Haley, focused on leadership styles and culture.
We began with an icebreaker. To learn more about each other, each fellow shared something personal about themselves that others wouldn’t at first glance. After our icebreaker, we discussed the Diversity Iceberg Model. Then, we discussed different types of leaders. To find out what our own leadership styles are, we filled out a quiz. Each person’s answers to the quiz revealed the direction to which his or her “leadership compass” pointed. I discovered that I have West leadership qualities, because I am practical and like to base my decisions on data analysis and logic. After learning our results, each “direction” formed a group in their corresponding spot of the room to discuss their direction’s advantages and disadvantages, as well as how they are perceived by others. Then, the direction groups came together to share what they had discussed. I found this activity to be the most interesting part of the meeting. While I knew we were a diverse group, it was somewhat surprising that was so much variation in leadership styles. Seeing the diversity in our leadership styles was intriguing for me because it showed that even in small groups there can be great diversity. This activity helped us learn more about each other and the different ways we address problems. Lastly, the “directions” discussion helped us compare how we think we are perceived and how we are in fact viewed by others.
“...this activity highlighted how people can misinterpret other cultures and how differences among people can make it hard to communicate.”
After discussing how different leadership styles are interpreted, we addressed how different cultures are viewed by others. First, we looked at optical illusion pictures to demonstrate how we all see things differently. Then, we read definitions of culture and described how people see other cultures through the lens of their own culture. Next, to make this concept more concrete we played the “Colorful Cultures Game.” In this game, each fellow received a colored card that described a culture (hence the name). However, the “cultures” weren’t the cultures with which we were generally familiar. The cards didn’t give a nationality or religion; rather, they stated strange characteristics. For instance, on one card color, the “culture” was to only shake hands using your left hand and to avoid making eye contact. Other cards said to be rude or nice to a certain color. After reading about our culture, we were given five minutes to act as our cards told us to and to interact with the other cultures. The five minutes were full of confusion and laughter. After settling back into our seats and ceasing to act out our assigned culture, we discussed what we had learned from the activity. Fellows found that in some instances what they had interpreted as mean behavior was really someone trying to be nice, and vice versa. In addition to being very entertaining, this activity highlighted how people can misinterpret other cultures and how differences among people can make it hard to communicate.
To apply the ideas we had discussed and to conclude the meeting, we learned about New York’s diversity. This was very interesting for me because I often hear that New York is very diverse, but I had never really learned what that meant numerically. We looked at maps of populations and ethnicities all over New York City. One observation I found particularly thought-provoking was that although New York is as a whole diverse, within most of its neighborhoods there is very little diversity. The fellows’ first meeting was a success. We learned a lot and are looking forward to meeting again!
Bridgers come out of the closet
by Keyara Drew
For the month of October and November, the Bridgers’ meetings took place at Project Reach. At Project Reach, we had two interactive workshops with Don Kao, our facilitator. The first workshop was on diversity and discrimination where we talked about race and society. The highlight of the night was when we were given a list of 14 people that had different characteristics, like a pregnant black women, a Jehovah’s witness, and a Korean market owner, just to name a few. With this list we could only choose 10 people to get on the boat, which means we had to leave behind 4. We worked in groups of 4 to determine who should go in the boat and who shouldn't. Each group all had different reasons for leaving behind people. One group even left everybody behind (my group, of course). Upon observing each other's works we noticed some similarities in who we were leaving behind. But, what we didn't notice was the discrimination taking place. We all discriminated against the people written on the index cards as if we knew them personally. We had set their destiny just from a title.
In the second meeting, we discussed homophobia within our communities and how they related to our personal lives. For the majority of my life, I have been sheltered from topics like sexuality because I grew up with the norm that you were just straight. No questions asked. But, upon sitting and listening to my peers at this meeting, I noticed that everyone experiences sexuality at different points in their lives and feels differently about it as well. For a portion of the meeting, you were partnered with someone to discuss several questions: “What makes people straight?” “When was the first time you experienced talks of sexuality different from your own?” and “Why is being straight the norm?” My partner, the amazing Karen Lander, and I went back and forth discussing these questions and while doing so questions arise. Why is it that nobody ever questions why someone is straight? How come people don't have negative thoughts about straight people? What makes loving someone the same gender as you so wrong?
“We, as people, tend to most of the time leave people out, accidentally, because we don’t know anything about them or don’t ask questions... I hope everyone feels welcomed and comfortable with me and our fellow peers.”
Even when regrouped, these questions were still floating in my mind. My peers expressed their thoughts on these questions and then we did an exercise in which we all said "My name is…, and I am gay." I wasn't sure how to feel about the situation, all I knew was that I was straight so why was Don making everybody say this? When someone asked that question he said that it makes a safe environment for people in the room that haven't come out yet, and it allows them to feel welcomed. I then understood. We, as people, tend to most of the time leave people out, accidentally, because we don't know anything about them or don't ask questions. And, after doing that exercise I hope everyone feels welcomed and comfortable with me and our fellow peers.
These workshops helped me, and I hope others, to see that we discriminate without even knowing as well as that we are homophobic. We don't do these things on purpose but it just happens. The workshops allowed us to see our faults, question them, and voice our thoughts. Thanks, Don, for being a great facilitator to all of us and I can't wait teach others what I've been taught.
Fellows and Bridgers Meet Teens Around the World
by Tess Korn and Nariko Lee
A cloudy November Tuesday, five Youthbridge-NY Bridgers and Fellows made the journey up the forty plus floors of One Penn Plaza to the Polycom office. Greeted by familiar and new faces, the teens of New York City prepared to meet with young leaders from Jordan, Pakistan, and Southern Thailand. This was a momentous occasion for technological advancement, the students themselves, and the future as a whole by engaging discussions on what the future of the work force may look like in twenty five years. This was the beginning of a whole new means of communication on a global scale. This entire arrangement was brought together to celebrate the twenty-fifth birthday of Polycom and its fifteen year alliance with Global Nomads Group. These two companies came together on this day to create a day for the flourishing of conversation and making the world seem just a bit smaller by bringing together the opinions of teens from all over the world who might not connect otherwise.
“It was fun and interesting to see that even across the world we are all teens and have a lot of similarities. ”
When we arrived we were greeted by breakfast and friendly Global Nomads Group and Polycom staff. With a great view behind us the conversation started. Introductions were made and then there were 60 second showcases. The 60 second showcase was a gesture to show off something special about your country or culture. The YouthBridge-NY teens decided to recite the Pledge of Allegiance after hearing songs and seeing main staples of ethnic food. It was fun and interesting to see that even across the world we are all teens and have a lot of similarities. The main purpose of the event was to talk about the workforce and where we see ourselves in 25 years. Everyone agreed that we hope that there will be more face to face communication in the future and less screen to screen. On the contrary, we do realize that in 25 years some jobs may not exist because of technology advancing at our fingertips. It was a mix of different cultures and perspectives, but we had very similar opinions on what we think the work force will be like in 25 years or what we hope it will be like.
At the end of the conversation Global Nomads Group surprised Polycom with a gift of a map of the world with the places they were able to connect to. We then sang happy birthday and it was a really lovely ending. After that, we got a tour of the very technologically advanced Polycom office. We got to play around with their fun noise cancellation and other fun technologies too. Then it was time to travel down another 48 floors and go on with our day! We thoroughly enjoyed our visit!
Fellows Practice Communicating
by Eric Krebs
October's meeting with YouthBridge-NY Board Member Marsha Haygood was an informative, entertaining, and interactive experience. During the October skill-building session, Ms. Haygood led a seminar on public speaking. In this seminar she started by explaining the tenants of a good public speaker: body language, pacing, vocal tone, etc. She explained how just the position of your hands can establish a completely different perception of you. Additionally, she explained the difference between open and closed body gestures and how it reflects your self-confidence. Ms. Haygood educated us on the importance of leaving out um and like from our vernacular. As teenagers, this was especially relevant.
“ As blossoming leaders, public speaking is an essential part of creating an image of yourself in front of a crowd, being able to convey your message, and being able to appear professional and prepared. ”
After educating us, she had each and every fellow stand up and say something about themselves. A seemingly easy task proved nerve-wracking for many. After our short speech, she and our colleagues both evaluated our performance and gave us tips for improvement. As blossoming leaders, public speaking is an essential part of creating an image of yourself in front of a crowd, being able to convey your message, and being able to appear professional and prepared. Ms. Haygood was kind and endearing, creating a sense of trust between her, myself, and my colleagues.
Ms. Haygood did practice what she taught. While instructing us on how to be better speakers, she was one of the most concise, professional speakers I've ever encountered. She is truly a master of her craft. From this session, I have already begun working towards eliminating "like" and "um" from my vocabulary and replacing them with silence. I am now more conscious of body language and the effect it has on how others perceive me.
YouthBridge-NY Takes on Teensgiving
On November 15, YouthBridge-NY Fellows and Bridgers got together to participate in the 92nd St Y's Teensgiving volunteer event! We cleaned up leaves at Crotona Park in the Bronx and had fun doing it! Check out some pictures from the day:
Shared Resources for a Shared Future Prepares to Give Back
by Sam Gendler
Here at YouthBridge-NY there are multiple committees. Being part of one means getting to assist the community in various ways.
I am part of the Sharing Resources committee. We meet once a month to discuss how best to complete our task. Our aim is to bestow a grant to an organization that we believe in. However, before we do that there are many steps we have to take. We must learn many skills to be able to make a wise decision and hear everyone's side of the argument.
“Having an impact on society at such an early age is a privilege I won’t squander.”
During the last few meetings we have been learning new ways to be efficient and productive in our choosing process. During our first session, back in September, we learned how to build a consensus through discourse and discussion. Haley Hyams, our mediator and teacher told us to avoid a vote; there is always a losing side. We practiced this skill by trying to prioritize major problems in our community by how pressing and important they are. Also we learned how to be facilitators in a discussion. That task meant having to avoid putting in our own two cents in a discussion, a rather difficult task when the topics can be controversial, personal, or both.
Of course, all these tools are needed to achieve our goal. During these meetings we have tried to analyze the types of problems prevalent in our communities and in New York City as a whole. Ranging from women's rights to gun violence to education and health, these topics are often controversial and very prevalent in our lives. I've heard many personal anecdotes from all members of our group. However, due to the fact that we are limited by a budget and by only three topics, a lot of consensus building went in to narrow down the list. Only organizations that are actively trying to solve the issues we have chosen to address will be able to send in applications for us to read. Thankfully so, because there are barely a dozen of us and being swamped in applications means reaching an agreement would be nearly impossible. An organization that we all truly believe in might be overlooked.
In our next meeting we will be designing a poster so that the opportunity we are presenting will not be missed. Last time we got to look at a few that the previous groups had designed. They were colorful and interesting; I hope ours will be as professional as theirs' was.
I look forward to choosing a worthy cause to donate to. Having an impact on society at such an early age is a privilege I won't squander.
Fellows Get Strategic
by Emily Ma
For our third Skill-Building Session, Youthbridge-NY Board Member, Ivy Cohen, led a lecture in Strategic Communication to Diverse Audiences. She began with a fun icebreaker where we shared an adjective that we thought best describes ourselves. As we tossed around a plush toy, we shared some key traits about ourselves - creative, outgoing, assertive, and many more. Ivy transitioned into her lesson by relating one's personal trademark to a unique brand in business. As a group, we defined a brand as a product with defining characteristics, and we shared some examples of popular brands, such as Coca Cola, Nike, and Apple. She explained the "5 P's of Marketing" - product, package, price, place, and promotion - and their importance in creating a successful brand. For example, if one wanted to sell winter coats, it would be wisest to sell them in places of colder climates where they would be in higher demand.
“By simulating the process of pitching a product to the consumer field, we were able to utilize what we learned to make it applicable to us.”
As a group, we compiled lists of examples of different kinds of products and broke into groups of three. With our groups, we chose an idea, service, and physical product from the lists to sell to an audience and place of our choice. Based on what we learned, we worked together to develop effective ways to sell our chosen products and we shared the results once we were done. The outcome was pretty interesting and creative. For example, one group planned to sell socks to the elderly in the West Coast, which may seem like a challenge, but they came up with a convincing and clever way to make their product appealing to such an audience. Overall, the session gave us a deeper understanding of the business world. By simulating the process of pitching a product to the consumer field, we were able to utilize what we learned to make it applicable to us. If any of us ever want to sell a product in real life, what we learned in this lesson would definitely come in handy.
Cultural Eye Committee Looks at Identity
by Laura Cardona
The cultural eye committee in Youth Bridge-NY has and continues to be a great opportunity to address shared values in a photographic fashion. On our first meeting, my fellows and I were introduced to our photographer, Brian, who introduced us to the photography basics. We covered material such as composition, the golden rule, and exposure. One thing that I found interesting was that exposure was divided into three sub-categories, aperture, ISO, and shutter speed. This is useful information because in order to develop the best shot possible, one must be mindful of just how high or low they set any of the three categories to.
“...we were able to discover more about ourselves and one another as we delved into our individual backgrounds as a dignified whole. ”
On our second meeting, my colleagues and I shared the photos that we took for our homework. The assignment was to take any five images that described you, with any interpretation allowed. We were able to provide constructive criticism and positive feedback in order to fortify our developing photography skills for future tasks. It was pleasant to learn more about my peers and who they identified as, because as time progressed we felt more as a unified community rather than acquaintances.
Our third meeting focused on family. Similarly, we were tasked to take five pictures with the theme of whatever family meant to us in mind. Like the previous meeting, we displayed our work on the projector as we communicated the message behind our images. Following our presentations, we shifted towards a theme of family to a theme of communities. We conducted brainstorming exercises situated around ‘what words define community?’ as well as ‘what communities do we link ourselves to?’ Again, we were able to discover more about ourselves and one another as we delved into our individual backgrounds as a dignified whole. Additionally, we discussed the term ‘melting pot’ in regards to New York City. Many of my fellows opted to change the term, since the city still holds a very segregated demographic. My favorite part about this was when one of my fellows suggested NYC to be viewed as a ‘supermarket’ rather than a melting pot. His rationale behind this a supermarket contains a wide variety of different foods, although they still belong to their own respective aisles. Likewise, New York holds a huge diversity of cultures, although generally these cultures tend to keep to themselves in their own areas. Ultimately, we had rich conversations that not only focused on our singular selves, but also expanded into talking about real issues/misconceptions within our shared communities.
All in all, the cultural eye committee has not only been an opportunity devoted to pursuing a highly popular liberal expression: photography, but also exists to strengthen our inter-community relations while tackling some of the major issues that our city faces in a respected manner. I look forward to our next meeting in December, as I look forward to the publication of YouthBridge-NY’s annual photographic book, which my fellows and I will surely exceed expectations as the committee has surely exceeded mine.
