Makeda DeShield, 21, is a graduate of the first Mirrors programme offered in Bermuda nearly five years ago: cohort one.For the New Beginnings $1 Million Campaign, launched by The Royal Gazette this week, Ms DeShield looked back on her Mirrors experience.“It opened so much of myself that I didn’t think was possible,” she recalled. “I became more sociable. I saw the world as a different place.”Her time in Mirrors ultimately took her through another programme of personal transformation: Raleigh International.Proceeds from the $1 Million Campaign are to be divided equally, with $500,000 toward restoring Mirrors’ community programme for 19 to 24-year-old men — and $500,000 providing graduates for programmes like Mirrors and Raleigh with grants, to assist them in furthering their educations.A resident of Pembroke’s St Monica’s Road, Ms DeShield is all too familiar with the tragedies and everyday disruption of life caused by the Island’s surge in gang violence.“There’s been a lot of trouble,” she told The Royal Gazette. “I’ve lost three cousins to it.“I think Mirrors could help, if people would try it. Some of these people have gone through a lot. Some of them have lost parents. Once that happens, that’s life changing. I would say yes, Mirrors could help, if they know that Mirrors is there to help, and if they understand where it’s coming from.”Today, Ms DeShield works as a teaching assistant at the Building Blocks preschool. She said she loves her work with children.In 2007, she was a student at CedarBridge Academy when Mirrors representatives made their pitch at the school, for recruits in the pilot scheme Cohort One, for 15- to 18-year-old men and women.Intrigued by the new programme, she signed on after a couple of her friends joined.Part of Mirrors’ appeal was the all-around relevance of a programme dedicated to the idea of personal development.Ms DeShield said: “People thought it was, Oh, you’re rude, you have to go to Mirrors. It’s not like that.“It’s just self development. You could be the nicest person in the world; everybody wants to work a little on life skills. It is not just for troubled youth.”The six-day residential programme brought her into the “course room” where ten hours a day was devoted to delving into personal experiences — and listening to others. The sessions are gruelling, highly confidential — and, for many Mirrors participants and volunteers, intriguing in the simplicity of their revelations.The Mirrors programme is a Bermuda-made version of methods developed by Mark Charley, head of the US firm Uncommon Results. Mr Charley has delivered the curriculum for Mirrors since its creation, and worldwide he has presided over hundreds of “residentials” during his career.Looking back, Ms DeShield said: “It was definitely surprising. The things Mark Charley said were things you would not realise in an entire life. Once it got broken down and brought to reality, I could see it. I remember thinking, Oh my gracious — that really happens.”An unexpected pleasure was “the team building and group activities we had, just getting to know people — for me that was really nice”.She added: “After that, I went through the nine months’ life coaching. I just had one coach. Other people had other coaches, or sometimes they didn’t like the coach they had. But it’s not about liking them; they are just volunteers. They didn’t know anything about us. That was good for them too, the meeting and the interaction. We also kept meeting as a group after the residential. We’d meet in different settings and talk about how we were coming along with it, and have inspirational speakers talk to us.”Mirrors is a programme based on setting goals, and agreeing to commit to them. Coaches are there, she said, to help Mirrors participants keep track of their goals — and to hold them to their agreement.The end of the programme is an emotional occasion, she said.“Our graduation ceremony was held in the summer of 2008, at the Berkeley Institute. We were all proud of ourselves: we had done it. A couple of friends had wanted to leave and the group helped them to stay, and at graduation they thanked us. That was special.”Programmes like Mirrors often awaken a desire to go further, and Ms DeShield was no exception: “My main goal was to go to college,” she said. “I wanted to become a social worker.”However: “That didn’t go too far — I didn’t go to college due to an accident, and when I came out of hospital I just got a job. I’m still pushing for it. Social work has been my dream since I was in middle school. Right now I’m here at Building Blocks.”Part of the aim of the New Beginnings $1 Million Campaign is to help graduates like Ms DeShield, who hope to continue their studies but often lack access to scholarships and other resources, to act on their dreams.Half of the money raised by the campaign will be invested in young Bermudians who want to do more.“I don’t have a lot of time for volunteering because of working,” she admitted. “But Mirrors definitely brought that out in me. I never used to like helping. I love it now, especially the way the community is going. Everybody needs help.”She added: “And I love children.”For now, her work with children at Building Blocks is keeping her occupied, but Ms DeShield said she sees the need for more help across the community.“I observe my environment,” she said, “and there are a lot of children who need guidance and help that they’re not getting from their parents.”