They stole my heart

As soon as my group got to the boys and girls club on Friday and we were instantly met with challenges... "the kids won't get here until 4pm," "I know we told you to prepare for six girls but there are eleven," and so on. All we could do is grin and hope for the best and that is exactly what happened. Stephanie brought some friends along and they ran to the store to get items to make up for the lack of goody bags that we had. Her friends were such good help. They added to the conversation with the girls, took pictures, and basically did the behind the scenes things that we as group members didn't have time to do once we started presenting our body image workshop material.
Another challenge that we had to meet was the age of the girls. They were much younger than what we had origionally thought they would be and we all had to "improvise" and Stephanie s lovingly has taught us to do. Mine was particularly had to adapt because I had planned to talk about fitness and body image to young women who were already going through puberty and all of the changes that that process includes. The girls that we had looked like they had not had their adult teeth for longer than a year. I had no clue how to talk to them alot body image and even such topics as eating disorders. I actually thought it would be a little unwise to bring up anorexia or any of the others. So, I decided to focus on the aspect of fitness that involves being active on sports teams or choirs. Basically anything that had to do with getting out of the house and not only moving around but also interacting socially with their peers. I spoke on how there is no "one perfect body" and that they are unique and perfect in their own way. They should take pride in how they look and how they are healthy. I hope that in some way, through the chaos of attempting to change material five minutes before addressing the group, that what I said really resonated in the hearts of the girls. I hope in made so type of difference.