I think I am slowly working out what it is that I do and how i do it. Last year as most of you would know I began working for TEAR as a youth person. I spent the year dividing my time between TEAR and that other place that doesn’t like being mentioned on the internet because they have insecurity problems. Anyway it was a strange year splitting my time between two Christian organisations, both doing very different things.

In terms of TEAR the position was a bit strange, A lot of free reign and a very different working environment to what I was used to. I somehow started creating a high school resource kit that comes out once a term I didn’t plan on making it and TEAR didn’t plan on it being made. But it is. I also spent most of last year feeling very dumb and uneducated in terms of knowing about social justice issues and speaking about them. There are all these amazing people in TEAR who have been doing it for years and are really good communicators. Then there is me they guy who makes jokes and politically incorrect comments.

I would go along to events with other TEAR staff and just enjoy listening to them speak passionately about issues and always be nervous when it was my turn to do stuff.

This year I feel much more comfortable, I feel like I know what I’m doing. I can create things and go to meetings and be myself. I can take on more things and not take on others. I think changing to doing this full time was a very good decision. After 6 years of doing the other thing in a strange environment it is nice to be free, it’s nice to have the freedom to do whatever I want really and know that not only the people want me to do that but so does the organisation. There are no manuals or strict ways of doing things, there is not the feeling of being trapped.

Bloody ripper I say.