The 5 Why’s of Youth Odyssey

Sometimes we get so caught up in what and how we are doing something, we lose sight of the most important part, WHY!? Why does Youth Odyssey do what it does? The truth is, each and everyone of us here at Youth Odyssey believe in our ability to make a change; to touch young lives and send them forward to be better than they were before. We know what we do works! We’ve seen it! I realize that reading blogs and following our social media accounts can only show glimpses of what we do here. Thus, the inspiration for this weeks blog was born! I present to you the “5 Why’s of Youth Odyssey”. Hopefully, it can shed some more light on why we believe in what we do! As we start our journey through these excellent 5 points, I HIGHLY encourage you to check out the hyperlinks in each section. They are linked to other blogs that go into more detail about each point. So, BUCKLE YOUR SEATBELTS FOLKS AND GET READY FOR THIS ROLLERCOASTER OF A RIDE!

The Why: Empowered at the ropes course

1. Youth Odyssey Empowers

Youth Odyssey believes in giving our youth the power to control their own lives, make their own choices and be unapologetically themselves. We instill confidence, strength and resiliency in everything we do. Every action serves a purpose. This past summer, we hosted our first ever girls and boys empowerment camps! We got to witness shy and nervous youth come out of their shell, face their fears and look toward the future. Youth Odyssey plans on not only bringing those camps back next summer, but expanding our empowerment programming beyond summer camps! We have so many ideas and we know that it will be a major success because of the growth and changes we saw in our youth in just one week of camp!

2. Youth Leaders Give Back

Our Youth Leaders are the cream of the crop, but not all of them started off that way. One of our Youth Leaders, Donovan, has said that he would be a totally different person had Youth Odyssey not been in his life. We’ve definitely seen an upward progression with not just Donovan, but most of our Youth Leaders. We set high expectations for them and they are always ready to step up and meet them. They’ve been hard at work the past couple of months helping out at Blucher Park and with Hurricane Harvey clean up efforts! They graciously volunteer their time to go out and make Corpus Christi a better place. We are really proud of them and how much ownership they’ve taken in their community. We know that Youth Odyssey has helped to instill that compassion and team-spirit in them. Youth Odyssey believes in and teaches, community, helping others and doing your part. When our Youth Leaders go out and volunteer, it’s really rewarding to see those things being put into action.

the Why: Youth Leaders
Why: Kids showing their excitement

3. We Create Positive Change

92% of kids who participate in our program tell us that they have gained self-confidence through our adventure challenges! Honestly, I could stop right there. When a child believes in their ability to accomplish anything that’s thrown at them, that confidence bleeds into everything else they do. It leads to them respecting themselves and thus respecting others around them. Grades go up, attendance at school goes up and they choose better friends. When kids love themselves and have a supportive adult in their life everything else comes naturally. Teamwork, Trust, Problem Solving and Leadership skills are all at or above 90% improvement and Communication isn’t far behind at 87%. These are fantastic results and well above our goal of 75% improvement.

4. We Open Minds & Expand Horizons

You would be amazed at the number of kids who live in Corpus Christi who have never seen the ocean or the bay. They live (at most) 30 minutes away from the water and have never ventured that far outside of their neighborhood. Their world is so small and we won’t stand for it. We believe that when youth understand all the amazing things this world has to offer, that they will be inspired to never stop exploring, growing and searching for their next adventure. When kids want to do more, see more, and BE more, that’s when truly amazing things start to happen. They push themselves in ways you wouldn’t believe, they are motivated to experience the world and be part of something outside their stagnant neighborhoods.

“I knew mountains existed because I had always seen them on TV and in magazines. But you kind of get a better perspective seeing with your own eyes. That was my first time ever to see an actual mountain…just to see everything so natural and clear, completely untouched by modern man. It was beautiful. Beyond beautiful. That is, and always will be, something I’ll never forget. That one single trip made me want to see more.”Youth Odyssey Participant
the Why: Youth at the ropes coursethe Why: Testimony

5. Hear It Straight From The Horse’s (by horse’s I mean kid’s) Mouth

This is my favorite thing about my job! When we get to hear the kids put into their own words how they’ve changed and what they’ve learned, it’s truly inspirational and gives me the best warm fuzzies… and maybe some watery eyes too. So buckle up while I share a few of my favorite revelations with you.

  • “My favorite memory is when I proved my mom wrong. I did the rock climbing and two-line bridge. I made it all the way to the top and never stopped till I finished. It took all my fears away.”
  • “Having confidence is important. Don’t let others shoot you down. You define yourself.”
  • “I learned self-confidence which will help me believe in myself and be more of an “I can” guy than an “It’s too hard” guy.””
  • “I like Youth Odyssey because before I joined I didn’t really know anyone. Youth Odyssey has made me the person I am today. I stand for what I believe, I help people even when they don’t ask, and I know how to take charge in a situation. Youth Odyssey really brought me out of my shell. I still have tons of room to grow, but I like how I am so far.”

Get it? Got it. Good!

So how do all these things tie together? Why do we do what we do, and why does it matter? Our goal, is to get our kids to the realizations in point 5. We put everything we have into our programs because we want these kids to realize that they are capable of anything they put their mind to. So many of the kids we see on a day to day basis are not given positive reinforcement, they are constantly being told that they can’t. We want to tell them that they CAN, but we don’t stop there. At Youth Odyssey we go a step further. Instead of just telling these kids that they are capable, we let them discover it for themselves. That’s what adventure eduction is all about! When we let kids learn how to be leaders, work together and problem solve in a controlled environment, we build their ability to be resilient. If they can overcome a seemingly impossible task in a Youth Odyssey program, what’s stopping them from doing the same thing in the real world?

Absolutely nothing.