All About Exploring Purpose With Youth This Summer

Philly Aclan Latorre, College of Human Ecology, Class of 2023

“What is your purpose?”

This was one of the main questions that Christopher Davis, a first year PhD student, and I asked 80 middle school aged youth over the course of this summer’s 4-H Career Explorations. It’s a scary question, one that I didn’t even really think of until I got to college, but all 80 kids wrote down their honest answers and allowed us to tack their answers onto a poster board we hung on the wall. Some even allowed us to read their answers out loud to the group. There were plenty of “I don’t knows” and “not sures”, understandable answers for this age group (and any age group for that matter) since purpose is, as we tried to debunk, often seen as this thing that a person can only get right once. At the same time, there were several heartwarming sentiments of wanting to make the world a better place for their loved ones and those around them. This activity and my experience working with PRYDE at the 4-H Career Explorations gave me the opportunity to reflect on and carry out my purpose as well.

While my fellow peers worked with high schoolers in the Youth Investigators program, I had the incredible opportunity to work with middle schoolers in the “All About Me: Exploring Adolescent Development'' program. Our program centered around the All About _ book (the blank reserved for the kids to write their names on), a book filled with evidence-based activities meant to get youth to reflect on who they are and what they value. Chris and I began each one and a half hour session by asking the kids what they think people their age need to thrive. I was expecting simple answers, such as safe housing and good schools, but I was pleasantly surprised when we also got deeper answers like belief in one’s self. We connected their answers to the different levels of Bronfrenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory to introduce kids to the kind of topics they would be interacting with in the book, such as interpersonal relationships and development through the lifespan. We then gave the kids some time to explore some of the activities in the book by themselves. It was touching to see that a lot of the kids opted to do the activities with each other even though many of the activities could be done alone.

Some activities, however, could be done as a group. One such activity was writing down emotions you have felt but think are uncommon among your age group. It’s an activity that I wish I had done as a 13 year old. As adolescents, it’s very common to feel isolated since you think you are the only one who feels a certain way. Chris and I tallied the total number of feelings the youth had come up with and were able to demonstrate to the teens that even if they think they are alone in feeling a certain way, there are others who share those emotions that they can reach out to. The activity was significant because it allowed us to engage youth in self reflection and to illustrate different opportunities in which youth can support each other.

After giving the kids time to work on the activities themselves, Chris and I led two separate group activities. The activity I led focused on the support one felt they had for their goals. I heard from a lot of the kids that they don’t typically talk about their goals with their friends, so I was very glad to have given them the space to not only talk about their goals, but also brainstorm on ways to gather more support for them, such as by opening up to their friends more about their goals and getting involved with community organizations that can help them feel more involved. Finally, we wrapped up with the purpose activity I described at the beginning. Chris taught the kids and me about how fluid purpose can be and that even if one changes their purpose multiple times and no matter how big or small their purpose may seem, they can still reap the tangible benefits that research on purpose has found, such as living longer and getting sick less often.

As I hinted at before, I feel that the purpose I am working towards is to improve the wellbeing of youth by working with them and translating research into practical applications for them. Working with PRYDE this summer gave me the incredible opportunity to work hands-on with youth using evidence based practices. I got to meet and hear from incredible kids who have bright futures. I also got to work with amazing people to put the session together and get a sense of the teamwork that is needed to be successful at helping youth. At the closing ceremony for Career Explorations, some kids said that out of all the programs they did, some of which included making ice cream and watching chemistry explosions, the All About Me one was their favorite. It was touching to see the positive impacts of the program. Chris and I succeeded in making a safe space for the kids to talk and think about topics that they may not usually have had opportunities to discuss. My experience this summer confirmed my passion for working with kids and translating research, and I look forward to using the skills and knowledge I learned in my future endeavors.