03/18/09: Meeting Harold Davis

Meeting Harold Davis was like… having a talk with a wise man who has an answer for everything. Like the karate teacher who uses metaphors to teach you everything you’ll come to know. Harold Davis is the man who was instrumental in getting PG&E to listen to us about partnering with the YMCA to build a teen center. And – he was successful.

Working alongside YMCA’s for most of your life helps you gain connections with all kinds of people. We are so thankful to Harold for that. My favorite thing that he said was “luck is where preparation meets opportunity.”

Because he was attentive and caring he was cool. I enjoyed meeting him. He was humorous and I love that. He inspired our group that day.

Just who is Harold Davis? Find out here.

03/12/09: Yeah…But Why Me?

Three days after I had dropped off my application for the YMCA Teen Task Force, I received a call from an unknown number. Taken aback but curious, I nervously picked up the phone.

“Hello?”
“Hi, this is Maria calling from the Berkeley-Albany YMCA. Is this Chris there?”
Confused and having a momentary brain fart, I could only stutter a meager reply.
“Uhh. Ye-Yes, this is he.”

Maria then proceeds with a phone screening and by the end, I still was a bit confused by what had just happened. Not to say that I wasn’t attentive, but it was a lot like that for the rest of the interviewing process. Was I seriously about to be hired? Sure enough…no. At least not yet. I was to come in for a second interview. Oh the irony!

Kevin, Viviana, and Dasha were my interviewers and as nervous as I was, I chose to sit in the hot seat. As they questioned me, I questioned myself if I was even doing this right. Well all I could do was just hope for the best and that my answers were adequate.

Once again, I received another call from a more or less, now familiar number. I was informed to come in for a third a final interview with Tracy in a more professional manner and to write a formal résumé. I’ve never written a résumé before so I tried my best to crank one out with my extremely limited experience. On top of feeling unprepared as I felt I was, the BART train came early and I missed my train. Oh boy… They’re never going to hire me now. As my somewhat concise interview with Tracy ended, I had never felt more pessimistic toward anything. I knew they weren’t going to hire me. But sure enough, here I am writing this blog, more than happy to say that I am a new member of the Teen Task Force.

03/09/09: I was blown away by how much one can learn about a person

With three members gone to pursue other endeavors, the Task Force knew it was time to bring on new people. And, this was no hastily calculated move on the part of the group either. With three more seniors likely graduating from the Task Force this Spring, we wanted to gradually phase in the “new blood,” so that the Task Force could continue to be just as successful even after the first generation of members moved on to other things. The hiring process could best be described as thorough and sometimes tedious, since we were trying to compose a group where the new members would bring a similar energetic dynamic and a range of life experiences and skill sets to everything we do.

The first step was to carefully read all 31 applications we received. To build the applicant pool we contacted local community organizations that work with youth, and administrators at each of the area high schools, including Berkeley High, B-Tech Academy, Maybeck, and St. Mary’s. To give everyone a fair shot, we phone screened all applicants. In this initial round of interviews, we asked all the students about how they heard about the Task Force, why they wanted to join, and what they would bring to the group. I was blown away by how much one can learn about a person just by looking at the depth of the answers they do or don’t give you in an interview. After this round of phone screens, we were able to confer notes with one another and quickly begin whittling down the list. Next, it was time to do personal interviews with each of the students who moved on from the phone screen. In retrospect, we actually completed this process relatively quickly since this part took just two days to interview all the applicants. There were three Task Force members in each interview, and I feel like this is where the strength of our group dynamic got to shine. Each of us got to take turns asking different types of questions as we tried to really discover what this person would bring to the group. The hard work was really in the deliberations, where we all ran back to the conference room and spent about fifteen minutes debriefing each candidate, before our next interviewee arrived. With our opinions in mind, Tracy helped us to decide whom to bring for a third and final round of interviews, which she conducted individually.

The Task Force is proud to announce the addition of Chris Wang from St. Mary’s and Carmel Dunlap from Berkeley High to the Task Force. We’re excited to have them on the team! Watch for introductory blog posts coming from Chris and Carmel in the coming weeks.

Curious to see the actual application that candidates had to fill out in order to even be considered for a phone screen and interview? Check it out here.

03/03/09: A lot of love for what I do!

Why am I on the Task Force?

Well it all began when I started looking for an internship back in my senior year of High School. In the small school of Berkeley High that I was attending, seniors were required to have an internship and do a certain amount of community service hours. My previous internship, conducting surveys on the needs of youth would flow perfectly into the work of the YMCA Teen Task Force.
I joined the Task Force, after a long round of interviews and hard work. I was interested in the process of creating a building let alone a Teen Center right here in Berkeley to serve my peers. I’ve been on the Task Force for a little over a year now, and I can say the work is challenging. I’ve met so many people and it has boosted several of my skills and actually gave me new ones. I don’t think before this I could conduct a budget spreadsheet, document invoices, and give a great presentation. Plus now I am surrounded by friendly people and we have lots of fun.
When I entered the Task Force my goal was to become a mechanical engineer. It’s still my interest but I found an even better opportunity. I started an EMT (emergency medical technician) training program at Fast Response School for Health Care Education which was recommend by my supervisor Tracy. Of course I will still continue my work here at Y, because I have a lot of love for what I do here.

What’s an EMT? Check out Fast Response School for Health Care Education for more information.

03/02/09: Up close and in your face!

Not many people know this but the Teen Task Force is being watched.

Actually we’re being filmed. The YMCA is making a documentary on the Teen Task Force and our work to create the new YMCA Teen Center.

Andres, the camera guy, has been the best filmer I can think of. He has been with us since day one, when we went on our retreat in San Francisco. He was there when we read and discussed the first RFP’s. Through the jokes and serious conversations that big lens has been capturing every movement of the Teen Task Force.

At first it was a bit nerve racking to have someone filming you all the time, having the camera up close and in your face. Everyone tried to hide and let the camera pass without capturing them at an awkward moment. I must admit I was self-conscious about not slipping up and saying something that I might regret later, but as time passed I rarely notice the filming. We have all become used to that big black metallic lens in our faces. Some of us have actually become too used to the camera.

We recently saw a preview of the documentary – a five minute trailer. I was excited to see our fears projected on the wall of our meeting space. I guess one thing that shocked me the most was the skepticism of some of those filmed. Well I am not letting that bother me, watching the trailer has only motivated me more to work towards completing this project successfully.

Unfortunately we’re not ready to reveal the trailer publicly yet. Check back here in the coming weeks for information on the premiere!