My GCELE Learning Experience

It’s been a month since I came back from my GCELE. Words cannot describe the impact this trip has made on my life. This trip impacted my life as an individual, but also as a Child and Youth Worker.

As a young adult, I am still learning a lot about myself and the world around me. Being a part of this GCELE trip has helped me understand a part of who I am and what I believe. Being in Negril was so different than Toronto. Being in such a quiet peaceful country really allowed me to think about who I am and where I come from. Alongside with the youth of Negril and my Centennial College peers, I really learned a lot about myself. Some things I knew about myself, some things were brought out during this trip. All these positive things I took back with me to Canada and implemented into my day to day life.

Now as a CYW I was truly blessed to be given this learning experience. This trip really taught me how to work with youth while maintaining an anti-oppression perspective but also being culturally aware of the youth I work with. This has been a long term goal I set when I started my CYC program last fall. As I worked placements in Canada, this was really the icing on the cake for completing this goal. I feel I really grew as a future CYW and cannot wait to bring my experience with me to my future placements. Working with Camp Power to Be was really eye-opening and I am beyond thankful for this experience.