Mentor Reflection

I have demonstrated leadership skills through my summer job working as a camp counselor at a camp through the YMCA of Greater Charlotte. The YMCA Readers program is a free six-week program that allows at-risk students to stay ahead of the summer learning loss curve. Students are given reading instruction, two meals, and swim lessons. Most students chosen for the program come from challenging home situations and are often behind grade level on their reading skills. This position has tested my leadership skills as I was placed in several difficult situations through the summer, however, this also helped me grow.

At my camp, I had the privilege of working with a class of rising first graders. I had students that had parents in jail, students that did not have a bed to sleep on, and students who did not know where their next meal was coming from. As someone who always had a roof above my head, a bed to sleep in, and food on the table, I found it somewhat hard to relate to the struggles and needs of my students. This struggle to connect helped me grow in my leadership skills because it taught me to use empathy. In order to connect with my students, I needed to put myself in their shoes to help me understand the battles they faced each day.

Though there were three staff members in my classroom, I found that the classroom environment was often too challenging for just three people.

This made me step outside my comfort zone and be a leader for mt students. When I arrived, I had to help my students transition from the end of their reading instruction to our fun afternoon enrichment activities. I thought of fun games and phrases for my students to say as we made the tough transition from one activity to the next. As the students learned how to transition, I found that the classroom environment was less challenging and my students began to feel comfortable with our daily

routine.
The most meaningful time that my leadership skills were used was during swim lessons. Several of my students got to the pool and would not get in. After attempting to identify the problem, I found that several of my students had never been in a pool before and were afraid of drowning. As someone who can swim, but is not a strong swimmer, I did not plan to get in the pool that day. When several minutes passed and the lifeguards could not get my students in the pool, I realized that I need to take the plunge (literally) and show my students that if I could get in the pool, they could too. By connecting with my students, they saw that the water was safe and I was able to get several of them to get in the pool with me. As the weeks went on, I found that my students gained confidence in their swimming skills. One student, who went by Daisy Duck (we all had camp names) refused to get in the water on our first day. On the second week, she finally got in but wanted to hold on to me the entire time. After making this connection the second week, Daisy Duck gained confidence each week after that and moved from holding on to me to a lifejacket to make her feel safe. On the last week of swim lessons, Daisy Duck was moved to the advanced swimming group. This was something that I never thought was possible on the first week when she was too scared to get in the pool.
My experience working as a camp counselor for the Y Readers Camp allowed me to grow as a leader. It showed me that in the classroom, being a leader is not about getting recognition for what you are doing, rather, it is making connections with students in order to help them succeed. To be a leader in the education world, you must be willing to do anything to help your students succeed and expect no recognition for it.