Helping Skill #5: Setting the Tone (First Meeting)

    Even if we are not talking about this professionally, this is still an important part of meeting anyone. In this case, meeting the teen mom at the Women’s Center was very exciting at the same time. The first meeting is everything, how you present yourself, what you say, how you say things, how you look even says a lot about you. Luckily, we did some ice breakers together before we got to speak with some of them individually/ small groups. The first ice breaker we did as a small group was the name game; the one where you say your name and think of an adjective that describes you and starts with the first letter of your first name. There was a twist to that though, after, we all had to remember all of each others adjectives and repeat it to the whole classroom. For one, I am horrible at memorizing and second, I was not the only one who had trouble. In a way it allowed us to connect and/or be more comfortable with each other. Even if it was a simple laugh or a smile. It felt good to be around and made me want to talk to them more and get to know them. I don’t know how the girls felt in my group, but even before we started, one of the girls started playing with my hair without asking. I didn’t mind at all; the one thing I really liked about that was it made me think she was open and comfortable enough to go for it herself. She did become shy about it when her friend said something about it, but I re-assured her that she could play with my hair if she wanted to.