Reflections

What would be your first impression of youths who have had a dark past?
What i thought would be that perhaps these youths would be less trusting, rowdy, and even rude. But these were just steorotypes we put on people. Through my experince interacting with them, i found out that these steorotypes were untrue, unfounded and unfair to them. I also learnt that one must never form such a perception of people without interacting with them beforehand, after all, everyone derserves a chance for a good first impression.

Contary, to the popular belief that these youths were unfriendly, we found them otherwise. It was even more suprising that they were the ones to take the initiative and introduced themselves to us, even offering us a handshake. What I saw were not youths with a dark past, but mature teenagers with a bright future. Most of them already had a rough idea of their ambitions and what they want to achieve in the future, and even the potential obstacles that they would face in the process of trying to achieve thier dreams.

One of the potential barriers that would limit their potential would be perhaps the social stigma attached to them because of their past. A few black sheep would further cement the social stigma attached to them. However, we do believe that there is cause for hope after seeing those youths. After all, if even they can change and turn over a new leaf, then it would not be difficult for us to change our perceptions of them. Everyone deserves a second chance, im sure they would not let this chance go to waste.