In the spring of 2022, Youth Academic Navigator Jesi DeWitt met Katherine, and Jesi knew she was strong academically and was a talented writer. However, during the pandemic years she had begun experiencing anxiety, and it became worse as the pandemic receded. She was getting therapy as she struggled to be comfortable with herself and around her peers. She transferred from a large high school to the UNO/OPS Middle College Program thinking the smaller environment would help. She worried about the rigor of the schoolwork there, and she usually procrastinated until the end of the semester because she felt some of her work was not “perfect.” For Jesi, building a supportive and trusting relationship moved slowly the first few months. Gradually, Katherine opened up about the severity of her social anxiety and how it was impacting her life.
Jesi decided to focus on small opportunities where Katherine showed growth or took risks, and they talked about these situations with Jesi praising her for these efforts. When things didn’t go as planned, they considered what went wrong and came up with a new plan. Katherine gradually began building some confidence in her senior year and made decisions showing she was interested in developing leadership skills. However, as Covid precautions lessened, Jesi noticed that Katherine was the only student who was still wearing a mask. One day they had a heart-to-heart, and Katherine admitted she kept wearing the mask because she didn’t like her appearance and felt it was a way to hide from others. Jesi was glad she shared this vulnerability, and that in the final weeks of school she felt comfortable enough to take off her mask. Katherine even gave a speech to her UNO public speaking class about taking off your “mask” and how we’re connected to others by our facial expressions.
Each senior gave a short speech at Senior Recognition in May. Katherine publicly thanked Jesi and the D2 Center as well as her teachers and the UNO/OPS staff. Jesi was so proud of Katherine and the positive changes in her life that it brought tears to her eyes!