A lot has happened since our orientation retreat in August, where we welcomed new eleventh grade fellows into the Fellowship and twelfth grade Bridgers into their second year. Fellows and Bridgers have been busy attending skill-building sessions, committee meetings, hearing from our alumni, and joining together for team building and bonding activities. Read more below and check out some photo highlights of the year so far!
A Community That Strengthens Me
by Yijin Dong
I wasn't sure if I should join Youth Bridge until I met Tiffany and Karen at the interview...
My name is Yijin Dong and I am a student at Brooklyn Technical High School. Our school sends out daily emails with a list of volunteer and internship opportunities. It was a normal weekday when I opened the email and saw that orange and red logo. I searched YouthBridge online and was intrigued by "youth" and "diversity". Immediately thereafter, I checked the application deadline and found that it was due in a week! I panicked for a moment because I was debating whether my counselor would agree to write a recommendation for me on such short notice - but I gave it a shot.
Unlike many of my previous interviews, I felt relaxed and excited during the YouthBridge interview. It wasn't like a formal interview, but rather an open discussion about our lives. Karen and Tiffany created a super comfortable atmosphere where I quickly felt safe to express my true feelings. While there are many organizations with similar missions, Tiffany and Karen showed absolute compassion as I shared my story. I was drawn to their empowerment. As a Chinese immigrant who is trying to integrate into American society, YouthBridge is the right and safe place for me.
I have met so many incredibly talented and heart-warming teens and professionals with diverse backgrounds here. We are all somewhat different in race, culture, and physical appearance. But we all share the same passion for making a difference in the world and making it a better place. I always gain a new perspective and a greater understanding of today's society from every workshop I attend. I have been an advocate for BLM, the LTGBTQ+ community, fighting hate crimes, and many other issues. However, through YouthBridge, I have learned that real-life inequality is not just limited to the hot topics on social media. Growing up in a world with entrenched media, my outlook on life was limited by the censorship on the internet and the limited perspective in school. YouthBridge helped me understand the dangers of a "single story" and proved the importance of education.
Plus, it's an amazing community that prepares young people for their future careers! For example, on December 15, we had a workshop on marketing and communication. The course we attended was similar to a business masters class in college. In just 2 hours, I learned some key communication skills: How does your product meet the needs of your customers?
A "product" is not limited to an actual item that has a certain price. It can be an idea, a relationship, or even a value. To help us better understand the main concepts of communication, we did an interesting activity. We made a list of 4 some "silly" words and then formed them into 4 marked ideas. One of our funny plans our group came up with was to sell nail services to the dinosaurs at the zoo. Our mentor didn't object to our seemingly "impossible" plan; instead, she encouraged us to use our creativity to make it happen.
There have been countless moments in this small but loving community that have touched and strengthened me. I am very much looking forward to seeing how my future self will change here!
Lead With Curiosity
by Erina Chowdhury
A vision of a future led by diverse teens across NYC who care for their community — hearing this mission not only inspired me, but made me want to get involved. As someone who’s been surrounded by the same people for 16 years, I loved my community in every small detail — from its interesting people, to wondrous sights, and comforting smells — it is my home. Although I thoroughly enjoyed this tight knit community, I wanted to experience more. With my love for learning and hearing new perspectives, YouthBridge was the space for people like me, to meet new people and develop leadership skills that would be meaningful in every sphere of life. My expectations were fulfilled and even expanded; I had the ability to make lifelong friendships and learn more about myself throughout the workshops and experience in the Criminal Justice Reform Committee. Not only have I had the ability to meet individuals who were affected by the Justice System, I continue to learn from Tiffany and my peers how this system works and affects BIPOC in various negative ways. I enjoy being in an atmosphere of teens, like me, who are actively engaged, open-minded, and ready to learn entirely new ideas each week!
Our recent workshop with Project Reach was insightful and helped me to understand unconscious systems of bias towards people, specifically LGBTQ+ folks. I honestly had no expectations for this workshop; however, I had a positive feeling because of how much I liked our last skillbuilding workshop with Project Reach. I knew from the get-go that I’ll enjoy this workshop, once again, due to the intimate atmosphere and engaging facilitators. We all started off by having a deep conversation with one of our fellows about when we first saw a gay/lesbian person in our whole lives. My friend and I actually had a realization on how the media continues to be heteronormative and lack diversity within our favorite shows (specifically K-Dramas). I felt comfortable sharing my point of view about a topic I’ve never delved into before because of my peers and atmosphere. Other highlights include sharing our perspectives on how our families view different sexualities and similar identities, and play a game that explored our perceptions on LGBTQ+ folks. This space felt open and relaxed enough for us all to chat openly about our experiences and how it shapes our similar or entirely different viewpoints. The game was super interesting: we compared our first impression words of certain scenarios to later reflect and view our group responses. After our reflection, we all understood how we’re unconsciously wired to think a heteronormative norm without realizing. Overall, this workshop was deeply fascinating and delved into important topics including LGBTQ+ hate, discrimination, and prejudice through community-building.
My experience at YouthBridge continues to be super fun and helps me to stay open-minded and lead with curiosity in each meeting. I enjoy all the new friends I’ve made and continue to, while also learning essential leadership skills that will be used effectively in my broader community. I will always look forward to each meeting with discussions about difficult topics in our comfortable space, continuous laughs with all my fellow peers, and the endless learning I’ll gain from everyone that contributes to YouthBridge.