A quarter after nine was my favorite part of the morning. It was time to meet with my Winning Futures mentor and watched as Laurie Tarter our facilitator brighten everyone’s day. At a time when I was afraid to voice my opinion on any occasion, I saw this program as an escape from my everyday life. Voicing your opinion, as a female, was basically taboo in my culture. Little did I know, I was in for a dramatic change in my life and all it took was for someone to believe in me.
That’s exactly what Winning Futures does. It allows the student to understand all of the different ways to value themselves and discover their greatest attributes. The program shined a light in my life that no one saw coming, especially me! Since I started Winning Futures, I graduated six months early, recited the commencement speech at my graduation in 2006, won a scholarship towards college, and changed my overall outlook on life! Winning Futures did all of this for me, not because they had to but because they wanted to! Since I graduated high school, I went on to graduate from college with a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Media Communication/ Broadcasting and gained a great career as a Regional Manager for a quickly growing marketing corporation.
2014 will mark as my first year as a Mentor for Winning Futures! The program has proven to be so effective that it was only right for me to give back what was given to me. I absolutely adore the girls that I work with, they remind me of myself in a lot of ways! I look forward to seeing them grow, week after week, and hopefully watch them all walk across the stage at graduation. My life has been blessed because of this organization and I look forward to watching Winning Futures grow on a national scale!