Team Care Force - Aundrea Dean

My name is Aundrea Dean, I am 23 years old, and I am originally from Forest Park, Ohio. Forest Park is a suburban community located on the outskirts of Cincinnati. There I lived with both parents and my younger brother. In June 2009, I graduated from Ohio University with a Bachelors of Arts degree in Sociology Pre-law. At Ohio University I was a mentor with the LINKS program, a program that unites first year minority students with upper class minority students that act as mentors and role models to help first year students make successful transitions into academic and social settings on campus. It was my staff counselor from the LINKS program that introduced me to City Year.

Team Care Force Senior Corps
Member, Aundrea Dean, 
pictured with a former student
while serving in City Year
Los Angeles.

Last year, I served my corps year in the wonderful city of Los Angeles, California. I chose to do my corps year in Los Angeles because I wanted to live and experience another city and state. As a first year corps member, I was on a Whole School Whole Child team proudly serving in Pico-Union at Berendo Middle School Team.

At Berendo Middle School, I followed a class of 28 eighth grade students from class to class. From those students, I had a focus list of ten students that needed extra support to excel in school. I gave all 28 students academic assistance in math, English, history and science, as well as social and emotional support. Being on this team, I learned the value of patience, not to judge a book by its cover, and to only control things within your power.

Overall, my team faced many challenges from learning to work with all types of personalities and work styles, to trust, and communication. However, with all of our issues we were still successful in planning and implementing events, maintaining retention in our afterschool program, and making large impacts with our focus list students both socially and academically. This teams’ dynamic taught me a lot about myself, my communication style, and ability to handle different situations.

This year, with Team Care Force, I hope to learn how to be more flexible, be more decisive, and confident to lead large groups of people. Personally, I hope to develop the confidence to talk with and engage individuals in service. I would also like to gain experience making clear cut decisions without second guessing them; and to give my 100% on every project, not doubting myself or my abilities to achieve anything. I believe that with the help of my team and staff, Care Force will help me continue to push myself to do things I would not have thought I would do otherwise.