College Budgeting 101

Yesterday, I led my first group session by myself. I had so many mixed emotions prior to leading the group session. I did not really know what to expect because I was the first of my small-group session (team red) to be in this position. The same questions kept running through my mind, “Am I prepared? Will the group members participate? Will everything run smoothly?” These questions start to completely freak me out because I honestly thought that I was not prepared to lead a group session by myself. I knew that I was knowledgeable about the topic, but how could I possibly get others to relate and learn from this session? Nevertheless, the group session went better than I had planned!

The group session I led “College Budgeting 101” focused on teaching budget life skills to group members by providing strategies and tips to manage money. My audience were college students who had limited funds to budget with. I enjoyed the engagement of group members and hearing the different perspectives when it came to budgeting. I learned from them, and I hope that the members were able to learn something new from the me during the session. My focus was to incorporate a real life scenario so that members can learn how budgets sheet can be a challenge but also make it a fun activity that they would enjoy. I personally feel like all the group members enjoyed the activity based off their level of participation, engagement, and attitude. 

A strength of mine was getting everyone to participate and respect one another. In addition, I felt like I brought a positive attitude to the atmosphere. For me, I think the most important part of my activity was the processing and generalizing/application part. These parts gave members a chance to interact with other members, learn from peers, and analyze their budgets. I enjoyed hearing the response and dialogue during the session! It was shocking to see what was important to everyone and how budgeting plays a role in their lives.   

An area of improvement for me would be to continue to work on confidence when leading. Also, I can improve in the area of activity. I could have explained the activity a little more clearly so that all members fully understood their role. I did it about mid-way, but it should have been something that was clearly defined prior to starting the activity.

All in all, I enjoyed how this group session went. It was a challenge to be the first of my small-group to lead a group session by myself. I did not know what to expect or a model to go by. Because of this, I was not as self-assured as I should have been. However, due to this, I learned that it is okay to make mistakes and not be perfect because there is always room for improvement. I was able to apply and fully use what I learned during the didactic portion of this class to facilitate this group.  Going forward, I know that group session will get better with practice and time!