Guest Blogger: Miss Douglas County
April is here!! The last two months have been FILLED with focus on the importance of mentorship, driving awareness and sharing stories on the impact of mentorship. But this month, it’s all about the young people that we live to serve!
Let’s face it, it’s hard to be a young person in today’s world! Of course there’s things that make it easier than it used to be. But the one thing that has never been around is social media. The amplification of technology has many pros, but we are also seeing the negative effects it can have on our younger generations. There’s AMPLIFIED pressure to be someone, to look a certain way - it can take away from the pure joy of kids being kids! Their youth matters. Their child-like curiosity, imagination, and thoughts are so important and deserve to be HEARD!
Ensuring that youth are empowered and encouraged are two of the main reasons I became so passionate about the importance of youth mentorship, specifically encouraging youth to discover their passion and purpose. This is my personal service initiative as Miss Douglas County within the Miss America Organization - to ensure that youth have the resources and the communities around them to become the BEST versions of themselves! This is also why I partnered with MENTOR Nebraska - because of their commitment to ensuring that all youth have access to the resources they need to be successful, whatever that looks like.
When a young person is empowered they will become even more confident in themselves, excited to engage their skills and their voice, their thoughts, to have conversations, to try new and challenging things - the list goes on! When I am with my young mentee, I aim to encourage her in her creativity, encourage her in being confident in herself, in all the beautiful, unique qualities about her! It’s such a beautiful thing to watch her blossom, and THAT’S the power of mentorship!
In my dream world, every young person has access to a mentor. My mentors have CHANGED my life and truly helped shape me into the woman I am today! All young men and women deserve to be empowered to be who they are meant to be too, so why not be a part of sharing your experiences to help make it happen?! I encourage you to reflect on how you can be involved in amplifying the young voices in your life! You never know what one moment could make a life-long impact!
