Blog Breathe - In the Heights 

The song Breathe resonated with me in terms of the struggle and pressures that Nina feels as a college 

student. While I am ½ Dominican, I’m adopted and don’t have the cultural experience of being raised in 

the Latino community or being first-generation college student. I do have the experience of feeling anxiety

 and struggling in college because I’m dyslexic. However, I have emotional, educational and family 

support, and family role models that help guide my college experience. Nina feels community and family 

pressure of being a Latina immigrant and first-generation college student. She is proud she made it to 

college but also feels pressure not to disappoint her family and community. She attends Stanford and as a 

Latina women has a different cultural experience attending college where she faces racism, feels culturally 

alone and doesn’t have her family nearby for emotional support.

 I chose First Gen Latino Experience|Lecciones De Vida (Life Lessons) Episode 1 

(https://youtu.be/1X05mXHAt_A?si=VoBpAGbM7A86AZFN) as an example of real life comparison 

Breathe in the musical In the Heights. In Lecciones De Vida episode the hosts talk with 2 Latino students 

about their first-gen experiences in college. A lot of what they say directly connects to Nina’s song 

Breathe. The challenges they experienced applying to college and attending college. Their experiences are 

pretty much the same ones that Nina sings about in Breath, such as feeling family and community 

pressure, the burden of disappointing your family, struggle of finding your identify in a very different 

environment where you grew up, emotional and added financial support that you may or may not have 

access. Not having access to guidance and role model to help with some would consider basic tasks like 

registering for classes, or even asking for help.

Quote: "They build and sustain open and trusting relationships in order to create the conditions for learning and wherever possible, young people will choose to engage in the learning relationship." (p. 2)  I liked this quote because it talks about how you have to create trust in order to relate better with kids. You have to develop a relationship with them to help them and the focus of the work should be doing that as best you can.

2 New Ideas: 

1. Youth work is an educational practice and youth work is a social practice. I like the combination of these two because if kids are really going to learn we have to be paying attention to all of their social and welfare needs.

2. Youth work should not label kids by their past or problem behavior. No one should be labelled as a troubled teenager or a criminal or teenage Mom. They should be looked at holistically and as more than what they may have done.

3 Vocabulary Words: 

1. pro-social modelling: Enaging with youth and showing behaviors that are appropriate so that they will learn and develop behaviors that are healthy and positive for them.  

2. holistic: thinking about the person in a lot of different ways so you have the full picture. It is looking at their life, their family, their identities, their community, and everything around them too.

3. purposefully intervene: you need to have a purpose for your behaviors and actions when you work with youth. This means that you don't just say or do things but you have to have a reason for doing and saying things and we have to be intentional about how you act.

Relate this:

https://theshiftlesswanderer.com/blog/our-teens-are-not-labels

I found this post online and liked what she was saying about not labeling kids and how to avoid that. I especially liked how she said to be "compassionately curious" about the kids you are working with so you didn't just see them as a label.

 Living Into Our Values 

Content and exercise covered on Values Clarification pages 185–197 of Dare to Lead.  

Refer to the list on page 3 and identify your two values—the beliefs that are most important to you, that  help you find your way in the dark, that fill you with a feeling of purpose.  

When selecting your values, ask yourself the following questions: 

• Does this define me?  

• Is this who I am at my best? 

• Is this a filter that I use to make hard decisions? 

Value 1: Family

Value 2: Community

Taking Values From BS to Behavior

Answer the following questions to dig into your values: 

Value 1: 

1. What are one or two behaviors that support  your value? Spend time with family, prioritize family events 

2. What are one or two slippery behaviors that are  outside your value? Don’t open up to people in my family sometimes and share my problems

3. What’s an example of a time when you were  fully living into this value? My grandparents both died this year and I spoke at their services and that was way out of my comfort zone

 

Value 2: 

1. What are one or two behaviors that support  your value? I like to be around people and play on three hockey teams. Also work at summer camps and a school to help kids build community.

2. What are one or two slippery behaviors that are  outside your value? Sometimes I get lazy and isolate a little bit.

3. What’s an example of a time when you were fully living into this value? My work at Bishop McVinney feels like really building community with the kids and helping them build community with each other.

Keeping in mind both of your values, answer the following: 

1. Who is someone who knows your values and supports your efforts to live into them? My Mom

2. What does support from this person look like? She checks on me and wants to make sure I am feeling connected and supported. She encourages my relationships with family and helps me pay attention to my feelings around community and belonging.

3. What can you do as an act of self-compassion to support yourself in the hard work of living into  your values? Sometimes I have to take a minute and put less pressure on myself. Let myself know that I will mess and it’s ok.

4. What are the early warning indicators or signs that you’re living outside your values? 

I feel more down than up, don’t interact as much, get angry too much.

5. What does it feel like when you’re living into your values? 

I feel strong, positive, happy.

6. How can you check yourself?

I need to take more time to think about, check in with people more, ask how I’m doing and pay attention to the early warning signs

List of Values 

Accountability Achievement 

Activism  

Adaptability 

Adventure 

Altruism 

Ambition 

Authenticity 

Balance 

Beauty 

Being the best Being a good sport Belonging 

Career 

Caring 

Co-creation  

Collaboration 

Commitment 

Community 

Compassion 

Competence 

Confidence 

Connection 

Contentment 

Contribution 

Cooperation 

Courage 

Creativity 

Curiosity 

Dignity 

Diversity 

Efficiency 

Environment 

Equality 

Ethics 

Excellence 

Fairness 

Faith 

Family 

Financial stability Forgiveness 

Freedom 

Friendship 

Fun 

Future generations Generosity 

Giving back 

Grace 

Gratitude 

Growth 

Harmony 

Health 

Heritage 

Home 

Honesty 

Hope 

Humility 

Humor 

Inclusion 

Independence Initiative 

Integrity 

Intuition 

Job security  

Joy 

Justice 

Kindness 

Knowledge 

Leadership 

Learning 

Legacy 

Leisure 

Love 

Loyalty 

Making a difference Nature 

Openness 

Optimism 

Order 

Parenting 

Patience 

Patriotism 

Peace 

Perseverance 

Personal fulfillment Power 

Pride 

Recognition 

Reliability 

Resourcefulness Respect 

Responsibility 

Risk-taking 

Security 

Self-discipline Self-expression Self-respect 

Serenity 

Service 

Simplicity 

Spirituality 

Stewardship 

Success 

Teamwork 

Thrift 

Time 

Tradition 

Travel 

Trust 

Truth 

Understanding Uniqueness 

Usefulness 

Vision 

Vulnerability 

Wealth 

Wellbeing 

Wholeheartedness Wisdom 

 The article didn't open when I tried to read it. I am thinking that it was about OST programs and how important they are for kids especially times like these with violence and mental health problems for lots of young people. 

As a kid, I was very active and went to a lot of different programs. I went to summer camps, I went to after school programs, I played on sports teams including baseball, soccer, lacrosse, and hockey. One thing I loved when I think about these teams was the friends I had and how lucky I was to be on so many teams with different kinds of people. I played East Side Little league with a wealthier liberal white crowd, I played soccer in Pawtucket on an all Latino team, I played hockey in the suburbs with more conservative hockey families. I went to the PASA after school program. I got to know kids and families from many different backgrounds through sports and other after school activities. I think all of my outside activities kept me sane because school was so hard for me. Having positive stuff to do outside of school kept me going and feeling good about myself.

When I think about the adults involved, I realize there were many adults influencing me in a positive way. They showed interest in who I was and pushed me to be a better athlete and person. They supported me and helped me with some challenges and believed in me when I was down. There were also adults who were not as positive, including my lacrosse coach who would blame and judge in a way that didn't work for me. He kind of showed me how not to work with kids.

One thing I relate this to is a song by Juice WRLD, a rapper who died of a drug overdose and struggled with anxiety and depression. I think about what his childhood was like and whether he got outside support from other other kids or adults cause maybe programs could have helped.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBBJFilpyso

Identity