Jessica's reflection
How do you envision your position and projects at YRES contributing to your skill growth and professional development?
As a volunteer and project coordinator that needs to keep up with the numerous projects at YRES, it has definitely helped my problem-solving and decision-making skills where I’m able to practice my foresight in making an event run smoothly. Personally, I enjoy the interpersonal aspect of my role which has allowed me to become more adaptable, patient, and sensitive when interacting with children and co-workers. Specifically, at PA day camp, there was a camper with special needs; it was my first time interacting with a child that needed more attention and it taught me a lot. With him, I would be very attentive to his needs but also give him space when required by letting him know he wouldn’t ever need to force himself to participate. Overall, I had lots of fun with the campers that day through supporting them with a math workbook we provide, playing games, and taking them to the park. I find that bonding and connecting is very much about identifying others needs and tailoring to it :))
Describe one of the biggest challenges you encountered this month. How did you address it? What would you do differently the next time?
The biggest challenge this month is building up a schedule that allows me to be on top of my pending actions. A lot of the time, there may be sudden updates or changes that need to be made. This can be difficult for me as someone who likes to make plans and lists. However, through communicating with my colleagues and getting a sense of their timeline and workflow helps me adapt. As such, I addressed these difficulties by moving tasks around during the day, altering my priorities. This is especially evident for steps in projects that involve teamwork and collaboration. Moving forward, I am to set tentative deadlines for myself and be increasingly aware of all significant dates.
What was the highlight of your month while working at YRES? Discuss your major contributions, interactions, achievements, etc.
The highlight of my month would be getting the children to warm-up to me during Mandarin Fundamentals. They were increasingly engaging and would now begin to repeat words if I spoke to them first. After the first few sessions, I gained a better understanding of my group of students and their learning styles. A method I undertook was asking them what I could do differently as the class was late (6-7 PM) and on a school day. A lot of them mentioned that they wanted more engaging teaching material, so I took an approach of taking learning material from cartoons. In this way, there is imagery and funny actions in cartoons that can prime the Mandarin word in their heads. I believe this helps with their recall and makes the lesson more enjoyable. Personally, this is one achievement of many but the one that was most touching and memorable for me.
Please give a shoutout to someone who has helped you significantly over the course of the first month and describe your choice. You can shoutout multiple people.
My shoutouts are to Tanya, Christina, Zhen, and Neeha for making me feel so welcomed to the team. It’s extremely exciting and straight-forward when working with them. Tanya is very supportive in terms of answering any inquiries I may have. Christina is super creative and brings joy to everyone. Zhen is funny in her own way and super detail-oriented. Neeha always has something to share that will augment the conversation.
Please share a funny image or meme that describes your first month at the company!
English (Canada) 
Français du Canada 