YDA 2009: It’s about the relationships

It’s unlikely anyone saw Krystian’s face through four weeks of the Youth Development Academy.

The 10th grader from Carson High School wears his shoulder-length hair like a shield around his head, completely covering his face.  It adds another buffer to what seems like a stony, withdrawn demeanor.

It wasn’t rare to see him sitting by himself, iPod headphones in, cutting off sound as well as sight.

But that immediate impression puts Krystian in a pigeonhole where he doesn’t belong.

Krystian and his counselor Daniel

It doesn’t show you his ambition, his intelligence and the bond he formed with counselors.

It doesn’t show you that the first day of camp, Krystian bounded off the bus before anyone else, and right away, he was asking about Daniel — his counselor from last year.

“I just like him. He’s kind of mellow. He’s funny and cool,” Krystian said.

Daniel was eager to see his friend again too. He talks about his vivid memory of Krystian playing soccer the first year and suddenly picking up the ball in the middle of the game and taking off with it.

“I laughed,” Daniel said. ”There’s something unique and special about him. He is soft spoken. He is very smart.”

Occasionally when Krystian didn’t want to participate in group activities and wanted just listen to his iPod instead, Daniel said he didn’t make him put his music away or put pressure on him to join in — but he had a purpose for that.

“I never got on Krystian’s case about not following every rule all the time,” Daniel said. ”He always knew that I accepted him no matter what.”

Krystian and Daniel during one of the art days

During the second half of the Academy, Daniel and Krystian were close to inseparable, and when Daniel asked Krystian to talk in front of a group of about 80 students, he didn’t balk.

When Krystian stood on stage to share a prediction of himself 10 years in the future as part of vision Path4Teens workshops helped students produce, he was no slouch. He is already working on college-level courses to get a head start on his dream of completing multiple master’s degrees.

“I always promised my mom I would be a really successful person,” he said. “She’s the reason I’m still in school.”

The pool didn't change Krystian's look.

Aisha Sterling is a teacher who knew Krystian from Stephan White Middle School, and she got a chance to see him again at the Academy.

She said so many people miss or dismiss that side of Krystian. That’s exactly why it’s so important for students to get that personal, attentive interaction the YDA is built for. Otherwise people miss the part of Krystian that is a writer, an ambitions student and isn’t afraid to give a hug.

Sterling saw first-hand how different he YDA is than a normal educational experience when she was picking up Krystian after the science portion of the Academy.

“He said, ‘you get a hug,’ and he gave me a hug — and I hugged him back,” Sterling said. “It’s one of those priceless gifts you receive as a teacher. It took me by surprise.”

In the end, much of it came down to one thing Krystian said — he was comfortable at the Academy.

“In this setting, you really get to see the students be more vulnerable,” Sterling said. “They’re allowed to be more vulnerable, but they’re not forced.”

On close to the last day of camp, Krystian pulled back the veil.

“Krystian is a normal kid who most likely has experienced some tough things in his life in the past year or so.  I’m glad that I could be a friend to him and let him know that no matter what he does, I still accept him and care about him,” Daniel said.