When I decided to go back to school for
Child and Youth Work (go Georgian College!), I didn't really think too much about my human sexuality related ambitions. After graduating from
U of G, I had briefly considered doing an MSc in Human Sexuality but decided that research wasn't really my thing ... I prefer to get "in there" and connect with people, and CYW seemed a great way to do that.
Jump ahead to April 2009, at which point I found myself on placement at a really great elementary school in the Orillia/Barrie area. My supervisor gave me the freedom to schedule my time however was best suited to everyone involved, and also gave me the opportunity to pursue what I REALLY wanted to do. At that point I began offering to teach sex ed to the seventh and eight grade students at the school - and all of the teachers went for it! Needless to say, I loved every moment of it and learned more than I had ever anticipated.
Fast forward a few more months, to September 2009. Although I was only anticipating completing my second (six week) placement in the upcoming spring, I was determined to make it the best placement I possibly could. A few revisions and suggestions later, I found myself planning instead for my final 400 hour placement, which was even better! I started phoning and emailing and visiting agencies in the area, offering to do sex-ed outreach, to teach, to run a workshop ... whatever they needed and wanted! At first I didn't have too much success ... I quickly discovered that Simcoe county is rather conservative in many ways, and doesn't offer much in terms of sexual health resources to youth. Even an offer of free labour and an independent student wasn't enough to entice!
My luck turned around when I was referred by one of my fabulous teachers to the
Orillia Youth Centre. Kevin quickly agreed to take me on as a student and let me develop, implement, and evaluate my own workshop. He offered me free reign to do as I pleased ... topics, content, guest speakers, activities ... it was all up to me! At that point I was ecstatic, though I was still looking for a second agency to partner with; my ultimate goal was a split placement with an agency whose name and affiliation could benefit me in the long run.
On January 8 I was attending a Leadership Conference at the Georgian campus in Barrie, where I noticed that one of the agencies attending the "networking lunch" was the
AIDS Committee of Simcoe County. I introduced myself and explained what I was trying to do, and my ultimate goal of having a "split placement" with an organization such as the ACSC and the OYC. Karyn immediately agreed and said that a split placement would suit her perfectly. If I had been ecstatic before, now I was bursting with excitement!
Now that I had both of my placement supervisors arranged, I started to think about everything involved with planning and running a sex-ed workshop. Of several things I was certain: that I would be working 95% independently, that I wanted to give myself lots of time to plan the workshop, and that I wanted more than 8 weeks to run it. I talked to a few people, did a little self-advocating, and within a few days I had made the arrangements to start my placement two months early, on a part-time basis. I officially began my placement on February 8, 2010.
Though nowhere near over yet, this journey has taught me a great deal. I have realized, among other things, that I am a strong advocate for myself as well as others. I've learned that if I am determined to make something happen, I can do it! And now, as the workshop really gets going, I'm learning that I'm a pretty good sexual health educator as well!
Let's hear it for comprehensive sex ed! :)
I'm a big-time advocate for contraception. There's been study after study and article after article demonstrating the positive effects birth control has on the lives of both women and men. But rather than make you read about all the facts and statistics around birth control, I'm opting to share a video with you instead.
