This experience was not necessarily an assignment given to me for school. It was something that I chose to pursue on my own. The purpose of me becoming a youth soccer coach was that I would gain valuable experience working with kids. I intend to become a teacher and a coach later in life, so this experience gave me a sample of what that might be like. When I decided to take my first steps into coaching, I knew that I needed to use some of the connections I had from playing soccer for 10 years. So I contacted Patrick Snyder from the Northwest Jackson Soccer League and asked if he had any opportunities available to be an assistant on a team. He gave me the opportunity to be an assistant on Kirk Fiorentino's team. Kirk was someone I had played for before, so it was interesting to now be his assistant. I was a coach for the fall season in 2025 on two of his teams. The kids were 8/9 and 10/11 on the respective teams. After that, Kirk asked me to assist him for the indoor season with the same kids from the 10/11 team. Overall, the fall and indoor seasons were very successful, and we won a lot of games across the board. I then thought I would be done coaching until I got to college. However, a few weeks later, Patrick Snyder reached out and asked if I would be a head coach of my own team. At the time of writing this, I am in the middle of that spring season. I am coaching kids who are 9/10 years old. At this point in my first season as a head coach, my team is undefeated, and I am enjoying the experience and learning a lot.

Coaching has taught me many valuable skills. It has taught me how to improvise and think on my feet a lot. I also developed my communication skills. Talking and working with kids gave me the chance to listen to others and try to understand different people at different ages. These skills will help me in various ways in the future. They will make me a better coach and leader, as I will find ways to understand others more efficiently. Also, if I ever get into difficult situations in the future, I will have better improvisational skills. This experience is connected to the JAGS Pillar of Take Action. The whole focus of this experience was about taking action to make a positive impact in my community. All of the things I have been doing have been to be a beneficial figure in the lives of young people and their families. This is how I have taken action to make a change in my community.

In CCP Government, I had an assignment that required me to attend a community meeting of some sort. This was intended to help me understand how my local government operates and understand more about real-world governance. I chose to go to a Board of Trustees meeting in my local community. I went to the meeting, which lasted about half an hour. The Trustees approved a lot of budgets and development projects. It was actually very interesting to watch. Then I had to write a paper about the meeting, stating what I saw and all of the motions that were passed.

I learned some important skills during this assignment. I learned the importance of good observational skills, as they will help you remember important details later on. I also realized just how important it is to be involved in my local government. Many things happened at the meeting that will have a direct impact on my community that I would not have known about otherwise. These skills will help me in the future as I will be more prepared to be a better citizen wherever I am living. This assignment connects to the JAGS Pillar of Investigate the world. I investigated the world around me by attending this meeting. It was something I had never done and I really had no prior context about it. I learned more about my community and how decisions are made. Overall, I learned so much about my world just by attending this meeting.