A Sister To Celebrate...Kristen Buckingham

A Sister To Celebrate

We have yet another “A Sister To Celebrate” segment highlighting Kristen Buckingham! 
Kristen has a great outlook on life and is a woman who proves her committment to helping youth succeed everyday and has many examples of the challenges she faces in order to do so. 
     I am thrilled that Kristen has given us a quick look at her life, passions and aspirations so please continue reading to learn a little bit more about this dedicated lady and find out why we celebrate her!
 

 KRISTEN BUCKINGHAM

 

What is your age range?

a)18-25,  b) 26-40,  c)41-55, d)56-75

 

Current age range is “b-26-40”

 

Where were you born, raised and what city/country do you currently live in now? 

I was born in Etobicoke hospital.  My first years of life in North Toronto,  moving many times in the Weston Road and Lawrence area. Then for a temporary time I lived in Etobicoke with my grandparents.  After that, I lived in Mississauga for a few years, then Oakville for two years.  When I was 9 years old my family moved back to Mississauga and I lived there with them until I was 23.  I moved out to my own condo in Mississauga until I was 29, and at that point I moved to Milton into a house that I purchased with my boyfriend. 
 

       

 What is your educational background / training?

I graduated from the Humber College Child and Youth Work program in 2001, at the age of 20.  In 2007 I started the Child and Youth Care degree at Ryerson University.  I have put that on hold at this point, to allow full focus on my current job.  As well, I am reconsidering what area of education I should proceed with.  Some considerations are, Psychology, Social Work, or perhaps something to do with animal behaviour.

     

 What was the first job you ever had?  

Besides regular babysitting, my first job was when I was 16 years old being a live-in nanny for a family of three young children during the summer break.  My first employment outside of childcare was when I was 17.  I worked in a retail store at Dixie Value Mall.
 

What are you doing currently? Passions? Aspirations?  

Currently I am a Child and Youth Worker for the Peel District School Board.  I work in a specialized program called "Fresh Start".  The Fresh Start program is designed to provide education and social support to Elementary and Secondary students who have been suspended or expelled from the school board.  I specifically work in the Secondary Expulsion/Long-Term Proactive program. As a Child and Youth Worker in this program I have many responsibilities. Some of which are; hosting registration meetings, providing one to one counselling, maintaining the safety within the classroom, managing student behaviour, planning and facilitating groups and implementing the classroom schedule, and working along with other disciplines within the program, etc. My passion is working with youth who are seen as being “at-risk,” supporting them through their struggles, forming therapeutic relationships with them, and helping them learn to make better decisions to promote success in their lives. Naturally, this position is the perfect fit for me, and I take great pride in it.
 
As society evolves and education changes, the Fresh Start program will need to change along with it. I aspire to be a part of that change by proposing unique ideas as to how our program can be altered to maximize the amount of students we’re able to support, and the intensity of the support offered.

What was the journey like to get you to where you are today both personally and professionally?  

 

It took me a long time to answer this question. I think that it’s because when speaking about life, the term “journey” has a connotation to me that there has been struggle, and it has been work. To me, life is about experiencing what you choose to. Journey suggests that there is a beginning and an end, which can be compared to birth and death. However I don’t feel that there’s ever an end. I feel that life is everlasting, and exists for us to experience and leave behind us a legacy.
We are not created equally, life is not fair. I learned this at a young age. Of course there were times when I would dwell on this and whine about it, but once I learned that success was all about perspective, then I was free from worrying about unfairness and comparing myself to others. Once I learned what was important to me, what my values were, and where I wanted to focus my energy on, I was able to live successfully...in my opinion. And that was all that mattered. I cannot say when or how I came to this realization, but it was early on in life, because I do not remember a time when I spent much energy worrying about what others thought of me or about what I was doing while I was experiencing my life.


What is the best life lesson you were ever given? 

 

This is another tricky question to answer. Going along with my response to the previous question, I don’t think that there ever was a specific lesson that stuck in my head, or that changed me as a person. I believe that life is an accumulation of many lessons that were taught to me by my parents, family, friends, teachers, peers, social interactions and observations, etc.. I see little value in looking at them as isolated lessons, and choose to view them together as life experience, being what created who I am today. 


What advice do you have for people wanting to follow in your footsteps? 

Advice for anyone who would like to follow in my footsteps would be, live your life according to your own expectations and be honest with yourself. That way you can own each failure and accomplishment that you make, and celebrate them as being part of who you are. You’ll be guided by what’s important to you, and live to your own idea of success according to what you value.

 

 Can you tell us 3 of the goals you have in the next 3 years? 

 Within the next three years I would like to further develop my professional skills by attending seminars and learning from the many professionals who I work with. Being up to date on current trends and tactics helps me maintain my connection to my clients and feeds my passion for my career.

I would also like to continue to nourish the relationships in my life with my partner, family and friends. As we grow and evolve, I find it important to allow these relationships to do the same.

My last goal is to continue taking healthy risks by stepping outside of my comfort zone, and to not become stagnant in my life. 


What is the one thing you would have told your teenage self to prepare for the future now that you have had more life experience? 

   If I could speak to teenage Kristen, I would advise that when dilemmas arise, she should provide a weight of value to things. This will help Kristen to focus her energy on what matters to her, and allow the rest to work itself out. I’d also like to note, that is something that I currently remind myself to do in times of stress or when I feel overwhelmed.

 

Thank you so much Kristen for taking the time out to complete this interview with such refreshing and honest answers. There are many who will be able to look at your perspective on life and apply it to their own lives to allow themselves to keep progressing!