Jana's Final Reflection

Formal education in Adolescent Health Promotion was not something that I had considered until I moved to DC and spent time actually getting to know DC. It is because of the people that I meet day in and day out most literally on the street, on the metro, in the grocery store, or at the mall that I became actively interested how I could make a difference in changing the course of key behaviors that affect adolescents lives. I also literally enjoy the free spirits of many youth and strive for more youth to be able to be free spirits. I have a fun time in the classroom setting, chillin', and talking about things that I feel like I was never able to talk to anyone about when I was an adolescent. I do think that I am good at connecting with adolescents becasue most of the time they are shocked that I either know what they are talking about or that I am willing to take the time to sit down and talk with them. I also think I am able to keep it "real" with the youth, which at times I feel many adults lack. Because of some of these characteristics I wanted to be able to utilize them in a manner that would do the most good. That is why I decided to take a class in Adolesecent Health Promotion. I have however come to realize that I do not have the skill set (yet) to be the most effective health promoter and that I need to spend more time gaining an understanding to become comfortable with content to promote to the youth.

Adolescent Health Promotion has shaped my public health experience professionally in various aspects. I feel that I am more aware of my strengths and weaknesses as well as I have FINALLY be able to gain some useful skills that I can use not only in a volunteer realm but clearly in a work setting. I appreciated the fact that I was able to learn, make mistakes, and at times in my mind nearly "fail." I think however that the youth are fairly forgiving and will help you learn. As a professional I appreciated the constant feedback, criticism, and positive reinforcements. I believe that they should be used more in all disciplines and all classes that are taught.

From this course I feel that I can only improve my skills. I will never look at a teacher the same again. I cannot believe the amount of time that I know I spent researching the particular topics that Katy and myself taught in our lectures, I know she spent a great amount of time and then we both spent a lot of time together. I know that in the future I would love to be able to have more of an input from the youth about type of learning styles work the best for them. I would also like to make more activities integrated with technology even though I realize that technology can at times be limited.

I have appreciated getting to know more about myself, but mostly the most effective tools to teach the youth. I believe that it is always important to evaluate your measures as an instructor, teacher, and at the end of the day to make sure that the youth you are working with had a good time (that is my own philosophy :)