Welcome back readers!
I just want to shine some light on how amazing these last couple of weeks has been for us. The most recent event that has occurred was this amazing seminar that Stenberg College presented at the Langley Events Center called “Be the Change; A Day of Personal and Professional Development”.
Motivating presentations
I finally got to see the president of Stenberg College, Jeremy Sabell, who gave a brief intro on the schedule for the day and introduced us to Michael Smull who spoke about “Person Centered Thinking and Planning for Everyone”. This was a good presentation as we (CSW class) just learned about this a week prior so it was a good refresher for us.
Dr. Mark Durand
Shortly after Dr. Mark Durand came out and spoke about “Interventions for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder”. This was more focused for the parents so they are able to transition with their children to the next stages to cope with ASD and not to feel ashamed and to be more involved and recognize the symptoms.
Dr. Victor Rios
After Dr. Mark Durand’s presentation; Dr. Victor Rios was the next presenter who spoke about “Motivating Marginalized Students for Success”. I found his presentation very inspiring as he had some very great points.
‘At-Risk to At-Promise’: knowing who is going to be a risk to you or promise.
‘Pay it forward, live a better life style and get mentally and financially educated.’
Another good point Dr. Victor Rios made was for the people we support, also need to want to have the change in order to be helped. He also stated to invest financially and empathy in life for the young people, who are placed at risk, enhance their dignity and create a continuum of care. This all makes sense to me because he then after asked “Why did you go into the public service? ” So I am asking to ask yourself this and your answer will better help which field you will shine in.
Craig Kielburger
Our next speaker was Craig Kielburger and he was so pumped with energy and kept the room going. Loved everything he had to say. Craig also did a motivational presentation “Me to We: How one Person can Make a World of Difference.”
What was inspiring about Craig was that he wanted to make a difference when he was 12 years old because on the other side of the world he saw child labor and the children had no rights to play. Craig felt this was unfair and started his journey from there. Craig also had some really great key quotes that were so inspiring ‘act with freedom and you’ll be free’. He also mentioned that we are all ordinary people and we all should come together and help each other to help others.
Almost like what Dr. Victor Rios said about ‘paying it forward’. Lastly we had The Buried Life present their life stories and success and how they had made a difference in people’s lives just by creating a list of things they wanted to do (dreams vs. your project ) in life before they died and get them done. There were three steps to this:
- Create a list of your dreams vs. projects.
- Use your network and be persistent.
- Help others by doing the things already on your list for someone else.
After effects
They were really funny and all the presentations were very motivating. I felt pumped for days and still do and I believe every school needs to attend this type of event. The best thing about this event we all attended was the after effects. I posted some photos onto Instagram and I met people on there that also attended the event and we spoke about how wonderful it was and we shared our “to do list”. It is so amazing how people can connect and this makes me feel that I can do anything and I am here to make the change for myself and others.
Now getting back to CSW1112 🙂 We have 2 weeks of class left and after that is our 5 weeks of practicum. Time has gone by sooo fast and we are near the end and then we done done done!!. The best part about our practicum is that we are a small class so we all got the placement of choice from our top 5 list. We are all so excited and happy to be here.
Thanks again for reading me and hope to hear and see you around campus
We want to congratulate Hana on completing the Community Support Worker program! It’s been a hard few months, but she has done well and we wish her the best of luck on the next chapter of her career and life.
XOXO
