Quality>Quantity

I love that Nakkula explores the effect of students on the lives of youth workers. This connection is somewhat obvious but it is not something that people delve into very often. The focus is typically on the effect teachers can have on students but this effect is reciprocal. Nakkula draws from Mary Haywood Metz when he discusses the intrinsic value of teaching. There are few rewards outside of personal gratification with teaching; it is not a glorious profession, nor is it a high paying one. This can be applied to the work of youth development as well. Youth workers typically do not earn high wages and do not work typical hours. Their lives are centered on the youth that they work with and often the only real reward from this profession is affecting youth. But this is exactly why people are interested in this field. No one enters youth work to make money or gain notoriety; they do so in order to benefit the youth that they work with.

            

Youth workers often must deal with the disengagement of students despite the work that was put into a certain activity. Sometimes students simply will not be interested in a lesson. This is something that can be very difficult for teacher and youth workers. This same thing can happen as a Resident Assistant, we can work extremely hard to put on an event for students but sometimes they simply do not come. My friend and co-worker once told me that it does not matter how many people are engaged in something, the important thing is that those whoa re engaged enjoy themselves and gain something from the experience. This is a belief that I have carried with me for years and is something that applies to youth work. While a worker will always try to affect all their students, it is unlikely for this to happen. But if some students gain something sustainable from an experience, a youth worker has succeeded.