Youth Week tried to kill me…

So this past week was insane. For those of you who don’t know, the first full week of May each year is National (or international? it’s hard to know, really) Youth Week. This means a week of sheer and utter madness when you’re a Youth Coordinator. Of course, it’s all fun and exciting and stuff, but it’s still pretty crazy, especially when your knee hates you.

This week I planned and/or helped out with a youth appreciation night/b-ball competition for 12 -17 year olds, a fairly large youth awards ceremony, a 2-ball competition for 18 - 25 year olds (which Chaz almost won…we like to pretend he’s still 25), and a band show featuring young, local musicians, all on top of all my other regular work for the week. I’m happy to report everything went off without a hitch! After the 12 hours straight of standing/running around that was the youth awards I seriously felt like I used to feel after playing a huge soccer tournament (read: every single muscle in my body ached), but the next day my knee was feeling pretty good, at least for a while, so apparently it thrives when pushed to the limit. I’ve made a mental note.

I also attended a Justice Dinner (aka the Justin Dinner) where Justin Trudeau spoke about working with youth. Justin was ok, and I support his message (that we need to respect and listen to youth…there was another point in there that I can’t remember…oops!), but he sure didn’t say anything that inspired me. I was hoping for some kind of nugget that I could use in the future to really get people motivated to do positive work for youth, but it wasn’t there. Thanks for nothing, Justin! Apparently he inspired many, many other people though, because the next day at the Youth Awards the councillors and mayor where all quoting him and stuff. It saddened me a little that people were so blown away by the idea that young people aren’t just the leaders of the future, they are also the leaders of today. I mean, at least they got the message and it might change the way they think, but still. Did they really not know this? Is this really a new concept? Sigh.

Anyway, so, as much as I love Youth Week, I’m glad it’s over for another year. Now I can focus on getting ready for summer youth drop-in, which will start consuming my time come June 11. Bring it, I say!