Listen to thisI thought I would title this month’s column in a rather literal way; I am indeed up in the air at this moment, en route to Winnipeg, Manitoba to attend the National (Canadian) Child and Youth Care Conference. I am not alone on this trip; nine of my students are coming along for the experience, and every one of them successfully managed to get to Toronto International Airport for 6:45am to catch our flight. As I chat with them a little here and there, one tells me about her hopes to land a job in the field as a community based child and youth worker. I am happy to let her know that the prospective employer had called me just a couple of days ago for a reference, so the prospects are good.
Another student lets me know how her winter was working as a floor supervisor in one of the university residences. This, she says, has sparked her interest in working with youth, because for most of the winter, she found herself working with first year students, dealing with their various emotional crises, helping them to problem-solve logistical issues and the like. Now she can’t wait to find a job in the field and try out her newly acquired relationship skills and engagement strategies with young people.
Yet another student arrived at the airport in an airport limo! She walked to the entrance with her big sunglasses looking a lot like Jackie Kennedy, or maybe Halle Berry. We chat briefly, and she tells me her business is really taking off and that she just hired two more child and youth workers to participate in her parent support services. She herself is thinking about getting certified as a parent coach. The business, she tells me, is bound to grow as more and more people hear about the benefits of having access to child and youth workers during difficult times.
As we wait near the check-in gates, the sole male student joining me on this trip arrives, looking a little tired but nevertheless smiling broadly. He slept at the group home where he works last night because it is near the airport, but let’s face it, one never really gets a good sleep at the group home, because the overnight staff is far too grateful to have someone to talk to for a change. And this student is not just anyone; he recently won the most prestigious award for excellence for Child and Youth Care practice in Ontario.
Now I’m chatting with my student in the aisle seat next to mine; she has been my research assistant on a couple of occasions, and currently is assisting one of my colleagues with her research project. It’s been busy, she tells me, but her research skills have improved so much over the last couple of years that nothing fazes her anymore. She has been doing everything from literature reviews to analyzing interview data to reviewing drafts of research reports. She has even worked on ethics protocol development.
Yet another member of my groups tells me about how she packed for the trip late last night at the foster home where she has been working for some time. In fact, this, she tells me, is really her home away from home and she is planning to put in long hours all summer to make sure it will be a memorable one for the kids and the foster parents. I haven’t got the update from the others yet, but I am sure they too will have a story to tell. And now, at this moment as we approach our first stop in Thunder Bay, I am thinking to myself how great it is to have this enormous privilege of taking a group of students to our very own national conference. And what really is incredible is how much they all have already contributed to the field, all in their own unique ways. From working directly with kids in foster homes, group homes and the community to doing research to running a private initiative and already being busy hiring other practitioners, these students represent the breadth of our field as it is evolving. There is no stopping them now, and in spite of my frequently more critical, perhaps even cynical, columns in this space, I am happy to say that right now I am feeling very positive and very optimistic. This group of young practitioners, entrepreneurs and researchers are indeed going to change the field for the better, change the worlds of countless young people to more hopeful and fun ones, and advance our collective understanding of being with young people in ways that represent the cultures and essences of this next generation.
As a final thought, I think I am going to secretly do some research myself at the conference; I am going to watch and compare my young students and my old (figuratively) friends; so Thom and Jack, if you see me staring, don’t worry.
