Sometimes appearances are planned well in advance and some are just spur of the moment. This one was spur of the moment and planned, LOL I have awesome people that I work with everyday and I am truely blessed in that because of these people I have been able to do more in the community and make appearances with organizations and places that are dear to their heart that are outside of the law firm. One of the attorneys that I work for has a wife that is a school teacher and he had approached me in asking if I would be interested in coming and speaking to one of her classes. Well of COURSE!!! I love going into schools. Those are some of the best appearances. Whether they are elementary or high school, they all seem to love beauty queens or title holders as we are more formally called these days.
This appearance was different. Speaking to a group of inner city youth about what I do and encouraging them to go after their goals and dreams even when someone tells you that you can't do something. It was important to me to let them know that I did not come from a family who had a lot of money either and that I have had to work really hard to go after anything that I have wanted. Nothing has just been handed over to me. Even with the appointed titles you still have to work to uphold the title name and pay expenses to pay for nationals. I have also had a few unfortunately events happen in my life that I spoke of, winning my first title, losing my dad at a young age and having to plan a funeral all by myself, the depression, but I overcome those obstacles. I think they enjoyed my down-to-earthness. I even mentioned some of the things I like to do in my free time and that some of my favorite artists were Lil Wayne, Beyonce, and Alicia Keys. I feel like they paid attention and held on to my every word and I so appreciated that. It's not often that you can get a group of high school youth to pay attention for a speaker. I remember my days as a high schooler. Sometimes that early in the morning you almost rather just put your head down and go to sleep, lol
I really hope that I inspired them. I know too well at that age that sometimes our self-esteem isn't what it should be and I was discouraged at times by my family situation. I didn't always have the newest clothes or fashions and I really thought I was just going to work in a factory. Pageants helped me out so much. Paying for school here and there, my self-esteem, and being able to speak in front of large groups of people. I don't think I could have done anything without a lil push from my pageant family. I encouraged any of the girls in the class that if they wanted to do a pageant to please let me know and I would coach them at no charge. Sometimes you just need a lil push to boost your confidence and to know that you can do something or be somebody. I was once that shy, non-confident girl who didn't always know what I wanted to do or where I wanted to go. I am so glad that I am able to share my story with others to inspire them to change the same :)
Speaking of some inspiring things that I have been working on. I am still looking for people to join me in my Light the Night walk for Team Hubert Jr. in memory of my daddy who lost his battle with Leukemia. The walk will take place on October 14, 2011 at Modern Woodman Park. I still have the "Relentless" red wristbands for sale for $1 and have opened a cafepress store with things that have Team Hubert Jr. and other memory items for family and friends of his to help raise more money for my team. Our team goal is $100. Please visit the following links to purchase team shirts or to donate to LLS for the team:
http://www.cafepress.com/TeamHubertJr
http://pages.lightthenight.org/ia/QuadCiti11/TeamHubertJr
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