My name is Minjae An and I am a senior at Canisius College. I am a psychology major and an adult,child clinical minor. My email address is anm@canisius.edu and I have chosen to do my practicum at the YWCA (Young Women's Christian Association). Empowering women and eliminating racism! Such a bold mission statement is pursued by the Young Women Christian Association (YWCA). This organization is a program intended to help young women, however it now advocates male youths to participate in the program as well, challenging the process of their mission statement which is limited to women by being all inclusive. By permitting all individuals of different sexes and races to come together and work for a common good can be extremely beneficial to the organization and the individuals. The area I helped out at the YWCA was the after school youth leadership program which consists of all African American high-school students living in the inner city of buffalo. This program gave individuals who had trouble in schools the label “at risk youth”, an equal opportunity to excel in all areas of life such as careers, health, relationships, education, global issues and various others. Students applicable for the YWCA are those who are being tracked at city public and private high schools by principals or counselors who feel these students are at risk of failing due to academic problems or being expelled due to behavioral problems. This program is designed to aid educational problems the students may pertain and teach them positive thinking. However, by labeling the children “at risk” stigmatizes their image negatively. Therefore, the goal I helped fulfill by volunteering at the YWCA was educating them in areas where they lacked greatly.

The director of the YWCA is Alex Wright and he has asked me to assist and aid the students in this program. His email address is awright@ywca-wny.org.