Wednesday: Carolina Youth Development Center

Today began just as the rest of our week: breakfast, yawning, drearily climbing into the cold vans, and exciting chatter about what we were doing that day. After passing through some of Charleston's overwhelmingly beautiful views, we arrived to our destination. The Carolina Youth Development Center (CYDC) appeared small, it's aesthetics much to my surprise. Parked in front of a large, brick, somewhat Victorian styled home, our leader led us to meet our supervisor at that site.

Brian was an older man with a kind smile whose joy and love for his job poured into our group as we were educated on the history and development of the CYDC. Since the 1790's, the center has served as an orphanage, and later a center for youth in the foster system to prepare them for adulthood and give them what they need to develop into productive individuals. Resources such as career preparation, homework help, school transportation, and a place to call home are a few of the many things provided for the youth.

Our tasks were divided into different groups for that day. A few of us assisted in the organization and rearrangement of one of Brian's disheveled offices, boxing and sorting technology twenty years our senior (read: floppy disks and things of that era).  Meanwhile, a group of book enthusiasts rearranged the donated books in one of the campus' buildings, which is set to be renovated into another housing facility. Last but not least, a teammate and myself organized the upstairs offices in order to make printing and mailing supplies more accessible to all who worked in that area. Because the resident youth were at school enjoying a half-day, we would have to wait until after lunch to interact and make a few more new friends. 

After lunch and bonding with our group, our fearless leader, Brian, split our group in half and we went to spend time with the youth at two of the residences. Although it was a little chilly, we opted for football and basketball which was well received among our new friends. Showing off my skills, or lack thereof, on the bball court if nothing else, made everyone else feel better. Laughter and comedic competition flowed among our group and our the youth engaging with us. Unknowingly to us, Julia, Taryn, and Tori were killers at basketball and made several free-throw shots in the game Knock Out. If you're reading this and are noting that my sports terminology seems as though I never played the games mentioned, you would be correct. Once our fingers were happily numb, games of Jenga, Uno, and Life ensued with more of the youth who had just arrived home from school. While playing our games, we learned that one of our new friends, a resident at CYDC, had recently been notified of acceptance to Clemson. Overjoyed, we all offered her our best tips for college living...it was such a joy to see a success story unfold right before our eyes. 

Through the cold, the laughter, the sharpening of our organizational skills, and the collective service our team had the privilege of delivering, our group bonded and grew into even more of a cohesive ASB team. If anyone is reading this, I hope you get the idea that ASB is more than service, it's building a community of fellow UT students who love others and want to improve their well-being...

Thank you for reading and continuous support!

-Liz