Joshaun
This month’s installment of our Community Spotlight series features Joshaun, a member of Beam’s Project Leaders program. Joshaun is a senior at City Polytechnic High School and plans to go to Hunter College this fall. Joshaun, who is also known as JJ or Joe, joined the Beam community during Summer 2021 through the city’s Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP). He was a Constellation Specialist at Beam Camp City 2021, where he taught campers how to make bells for the summer’s big project, CONSTELLATION. After a great experience with us on Governors Island, Joshaun knew he wanted to come back to Beam Center.
Now Joshaun works with the Project Leaders team. Project Leaders is a team of high school-aged or recently graduated youth who facilitate hands-on projects at CAMBA sites. The Project Leaders program is focused on skill development, social-emotional learning, and healing-centered programming for both Project Leaders and the CAMBA youth participants.
When Joshaun reached out to Beam after summer ended, he asked if there were any opportunities to work as a Project Leader. When asked why he wanted to work specifically in the Project Leaders program he said, “all of my friends that I met at Beam Camp City were Project Leaders.” He wanted to see what they all were talking about when they spoke fondly of their experiences with the program. Now, more than six months into his own Project Leader experience, Joshaun says that he loves being part of the team because “there's a lot of freedom. You have the freedom to choose, freedom to have your creations become a reality.”
Joshaun’s dream is to become a marine biologist; his interest stems from his love for both animals and water. Joshaun said that he loves being in the water and says, “If I go on vacation it has to have good beaches, it has to; where you can be in the water. I am a water person."
When asked about the impact of his Beam experiences, Joshaun says it is helping him be more outspoken and share his ideas and thoughts. He said, “I usually don't advocate for myself often, but now that I have been at Beam I do more often.” He also added, “Most of my real friends are from Beam. Because we made such a good connection, I still talk to them now even if they are not here at Beam, and that's not like all my other friendships.”
Thank you, Joshaun, for being part of the Beam Community!