In HEHD 8000 - Theories of Youth Development: An Applied Perspective, the largest assignment was a Community Youth Development Plan, and I believe it was the best start to my time in the Youth Development Leadership Master's Program. This assignment made me really look at my community and assess what my participants could be dealing with, or the context within which they grew up. I was able to use this data in multiple personal endeavors (applications to leadership programs).

In HEHD 8000 - Theories of Youth Development: An Applied Perspective, my group project involved preseting on the Historical Perspectives of Youth Development. As a team, we decided to create this infographic/timeline to simplify and better illustrate some of the key dates and time periods that shaped the pathway for youth development leadership.

In HEHD 8000 - Theories of Youth Development: An Applied Perspective, along with the Community Youth Development Plan, I wrote an Organizational Case Study about the Youth Development Programs at the Arthritis Foundation. This was another great way to kick off the program as it made me look internally at my position and my organization. What is amazing is to see how much we have grown since I've written this piece. A lot of the listed weaknesses are being addressed.

In HEHD 8060 - Youth Development in the Context of a Global and Diverse Society, I conducted a SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) of the Arthritis Foundation's Diversity Practices. While there isn't a distincy Diversity Statement, The Arthritis Foundation does clearly value diversity in their "Code of Ethics."

In HEHD 8880 - Special Topics In Youth Development, we explored the concept of "Youth Development in Nature" and studied Nature Deficit Disorder. As a group, I worked with other students to create a concept map surrounding a case study of the Camp 2 Grow Program. Being a visual learner, this Concept Map helped me put things into perspective.