As The Royal Gazette embarks on a year-long fundraiser for Mirrors, plus education for at-risk youth, volunteer Eddie Nunn reflected on what the programme means to him.A sales and marketing representative at this newspaper, Mr Nunn summed it up: “Once you’re in Mirrors, you’re always in Mirrors. And for myself, I can attest to that. What I have been able to take away from participation as an adult are things that I was in my daily life, that I implement each and every day.”Initially, Mr Nunn was attracted by a free seminar on personal development run by Mark Charley — CEO of the US programme Uncommon Results, which provided the beginning inspiration for the local Mirrors programme.No stranger to seminars, Mr Nunn admitted: “I had my own preconceived idea on what it would entail.”He was in for a surprise.“First and foremost, it was not defined in the typical seminar fashion,” he recalled. “It presented an opportunity for me to see me, and who I was being. And also it let me know that I didn’t know what I didn’t know. From that, there is that desire to willingly give oneself permission to know oneself, by a declaration of ‘Who I Am’.”The seminar at the Elbow Beach Hotel turned out to be a prerequisite to continue with Mirrors, by volunteering as a committed partner and coach.It was a job he took on in 2010 and 2011 — and this year he is “seriously considering a third round”.Explains Mr Nunn: “Being a committed partner is the commitment stage, and coaching is the job. Coaching is where we actually partner up with a young person who is also committed as well, to participate in the nine-month follow-through after completion of residentials. It’s based on what the goals are, so it’s not really coaching a person, per se.”Mirrors coaches are sometimes likened to mentors — but the key difference in the role, he said, is a subtle one.“It’s not my job as coach to criticise or make judgments, or to recommend a person to change something about themselves. But within coaching, the process is based on the individual’s commitment to their goals. That’s where the real transformation takes place.”The “results-driven” focus of Mirrors appealed to him from the start, he said.“There’s a misunderstanding about Mirrors,” Mr Nunn said. “It’s an opportunity for young people to tap into a source of being where they realise that they have unlimited possibilities. If they have along the way stopped dreaming, because of a situation or circumstance, or even people who have somehow or another gotten in the way of the next step toward whatever that dream may be, Mirrors will provide them with the right tools to be able to move forward.”Everyone involved in Mirrors, coaches included, ends up changed by the experience, he added.Mr Nunn keenly recalls his own transformation in the painful area of public speaking.“Mirrors helped me overcome that. It definitely gave me the opportunity to step out of a paradigm, to see the possibility of new ideas that would not have shown up before.”Coaches step in after the residential phase of Mirrors, in the long nine months when participants engage with and follow through on their goals. Volunteers are in high demand for this stage, and Mr Nunn called for more on the Island to step forward and take up this challenge.It’s a job that finishes at the end of the nine months. As Mr Nunn explained: “When it’s over, it’s over.”However, during their time in Mirrors, participants stand to obtain resources that can carry them forward for life.“It never comes to an end,” Mr Nunn said. “The goals are always changing. I believe it’s something that lasts a lifetime. It’s an ever-evolving process.”Misconceptions regarding the Mirrors programme endure, he noted: the concept of personal transformation can apply to anything — not just “troubled” individuals.Can Mirrors tackle Bermuda’s gang issues? Mr Nunn paused before answering.“I believe that for each and every individual who commits themselves to the Mirrors process, to the Mirrors opportunity, there is no debate in my mind that transformation takes place. Mirrors is not necessarily the fix-it-all for any type of gang activity in the negative sense. But for the individual person, that human being, for that individual who for whatever reason decides to have the courage to allow themselves to participate 100 percent in the Mirrors programme — there’s no debate in my mind, that whatever they want to get out of it, they will. Plus some.”The pristine setting of the Willowbank resort in Sandys is no longer available. Mirrors’ next residential will use the facilities available at Warwick Camp.“There is a very strong possibility that I will show up again,” Mr Nunn said.Looking back on his time with the programme, he remembered his first Mirrors graduation as a high point.“To see those young people, from where they first started, from day one in Mirrors, walk across the stage and speak in front of a packed audience and communicate and address them in such a manner about the Mirrors programme and what it has provided them, was absolutely amazing to witness.”