CASE STUDY #8: DUKE (The Stuck-Up Jock)
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Duke was an atypical “I CARE” kid from the start. (Aren’t they all now that I think about it!? That is the very definition of our program.) While most of his peers thrive on their lack of motivation concerning anything even remotely school or society driven he was an accomplished athlete; varsity letterman in three sports at his high school. Perhaps his grueling practice schedule was partially to blame for his failing classes although many other jocks discovered the necessary balance required to pass, some even able to excel in both arenas.
He would swagger into groups weighed down by his letterman’s jacket festooned with medals, captains' stars and other flashy “bling” attesting to his superiority on the athletic fields. His group members were mostly girls quite unlike his groupies at his school. They were unimpressed by his accomplishments as well as his aloofness. Their image of Duke was someone who was “stuck on himself”.
Since our program encourages “supportive confrontation” they took numerous opportunities to share their observations about his attitude. In time he got fed up with this blatant disregard for his accomplishments and steadfast refusal to worship him with the enthusiasm of his fan base.
One Saturday we held a Junior/Senior Olympics at a local convalescent hospital. It was a glorious event. Games like balloon volleyball and wheelchair slalom races were big hits. Our kids became young legs for the senior citizens. I looked on with trepidation as Duke was pushing his senior at breakneck speed through some tight turns with visions of a gold medal as his motivation. The expression on the seniors' faces concerned me because it appeared to be a look of stark terror possibly combined with nausea!
Quite obviously the senior hadn’t moved that fast in years (if ever). At the end of the race I expected him to admonish Duke and demand a more reasonable speed on the next run but instead he said: “Ya gotta push faster…we can win this!” Needless to say, our kids were exhausted and many of them slept on the bus ride home.
The next Thursday night Duke made a usual entrance into the group meeting. He seemed genuinely happy to be there, a radical departure from his well developed “cool-as-a-cucumber” entry. He quickly went to his group’s table and made this pronouncement to his distracters: “You can’t say I’m stuck on myself anymore…Saturday I changed the diaper of an 80 year old man!”
Analysis: These kinds of experiences change young people. We all know about the importance of doing things for others as a way of feeling better about ourselves. This is a classic example. Duke learned how important he can be to someone else and how he was able to step way outside his comfort zone to meet the needs of another. This experience dealt with risk. Most of us would be uncomfortable in a situation like that especially if we were 17. We realize that taking risks is something that many young crave or even seem to have a deep-seated need to do. We capitalize on this by encouraging risk-taking that is esteem building and healthy in place of dangerous and destructive. We strive to empower young people to get in touch with their abilities to become driving forces for positive change in their communities… giving blood, instead of shedding it. Registering to vote in place of cursing our leaders and replacing conversations like ”Dude, remember that time we got wasted and busted down old man McReedy’s fence” to “Dude, remember that day we talked to old man McReedy about his liberation of the French at Normandy? That was hella cool and I got an A+ on that living history paper. I was kinda freaked at talking to him but he made me feel welcome. I’m gonna rent “Tora Tora Tora'' and watch it with him. He’ll know if they got it right!”
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Excercise #7 Learning Style Inventory
Exercise #10 Irrational Beliefs
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Exercise #23 Role Model Traits
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Exercise #24 Interest Inventory
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