Bytes Staff Journeys: Kevina McDonald

In the second of our series of ‘Staff Journeys’, Kevina McDonald from the Derry-Londonderry Peace Bytes team talks about her time working for Bytes and the confidence & experience she has gained.

Kevina McDonald, Youth Worker

Tell us a bit about yourself…

My name is Kevina McDonald. I’m 23 years old, have a degree in psychology and I am also a qualified personal trainer.

What made you interested in Bytes in the first place?

Working with the youth is something I’ve wanted to do since I was a young person myself, as I had so many amazing Youth Workers have a positive impact on me. I wanted to be that person for young people.

What is your favourite part about your job?

I love seeing that transition from when you initially meet a young person to a few weeks later, when they really start to relax & fully invest themselves in sessions, group work, feedback and conversations. For me, nothing is more rewarding that seeing a young person build the confidence to do things they probably never imagined they would, both in and out of sessions.

How have you grown as an individual from starting at Bytes?

I started at Bytes as a Youth Support Worker when I was 20. Back then, I was probably the worker that stayed quiet and sat in the background during staff meetings and staff days, so I can relate to the above regarding young people relaxing and investing themselves.

However, I now no longer sit back quietly! I fully invest myself in the team, staff days, meetings, facilitation and so on. I now have developed that confidence within my current role that I would once have never imagined.

What has made you stay in Bytes?

I have had the opportunity to meet so many amazing young people, seeing the impact the programme has on them and allowing me to witness amazing growth and development in so many ways, and I am lucky to have the most amazing team around me!