Why I coach teens and know that I can make a difference!

My experiences as a teenager left much to be desired. Most of my problems were self induced, I know that now; but at the time I thought the world was to blame. I didn't achieve much at school, I really wasn't interested and managed to get myself in with "The Wrong Crowd"; spending most of my time truanting.

I left school with a massive 2 qualifications. I managed to gain a B in my O level English Language thanks to my brilliant imagination for storytelling and a less than impressive C.S.E grade 3 in history thanks to boring lessons on the General Strike!

I remember my history teacher telling me I would never get anywhere studying history. He ate his words when I went back to school seventeen years later with a mini me in tow and delighted in announcing I gained a 2:1 with Honours in Literary and Historical Studies! Ha!

I tried Sixth Form College and lasted a whole 3 weeks before handing in my books and taking a full-time job as a supermarket cashier. I often wonder what my academic career might have been, had I been assigned a teen coach or mentor as many teens are now.

I pride myself in making a difference in the lives of teenagers experiencing the same kind of barriers to learning that I had. My barrier to learning wasn't a lack of intelligence, I had been in the top stream all my school life; I simply became disillusioned with why I was there in the first place. I had no motivation to learn, had a million self-limiting beliefs, no self esteem and felt out of place in the system.

I feel looking back, that I was allowed to fail and that should never be an option for any student. In the five or so years that I have been a teen mentor/coach; I have found that the barriers I faced some twenty odd years ago, are pretty much the same as my students face now. I was lucky all those years ago in that I wasn't under as much pressure with technology as kids are today. We didn't have to word process and ‘tart' up our essays to such an extent that they become academic works of art, but I did face lots of pressure from home. When I take students for seminars on raising self-esteem, removing barriers to learning, time-management et cetera, I KNOW exactly where they are coming from as I have been there, done that and worn out the t shirt and they know that I am being upfront and straight with them.

The workshops and seminars I run, are designed to empower teens to manage their own learning, become involved in team spirit, raise their achievement, gain effective communication skills, become good citizens and reach for the stars! I operate within a framework of multi modalities or in less technical speak, using the individuals' representational system i.e Visual, Aural, Kinesthetic. It has been proven in numerous studies that people learn better when given information using all the senses not just one. The workshops are tried and tested and above all they do exactly what they say on the label!