My HOBY story began in my hometown at San Clemente High School. Our school nominated 14 sophomore students out of our class of 750. We then went on to write essays and I was fortunate enough to be the one chosen to represent us at HOBY SoCal at Chapman University. During my time at my local seminar I made many friends, my small group became close (almost like family), and I learned how to explain my story to a group of people (found my voice). During the closing ceremony my HOBY Daddy, Chris Berry (person who was in charge of running the seminar) announced they would be giving out 2 scholarships to attend the World Leadership Congress in Chicago. This is where my story gets intense and is almost a little hard to believe. As my HOBY Daddy announced the word, “scholarship” my heart began to beat out of my chest. It was beating so loud I could hear the thumping. Then, for just a few seconds I experienced something nearly impossible to put into words. I had an out of body experience. I was above it all and the only thing I could hear though everyone was clapping and cheering was the beating of my heart and the voice of God who whispered to me, “Here is your opportunity.” I’m a firm believer in everything happening for a reason. I didn’t know what God had in store for me, but I knew I could trust in Him and His perfect plan. Coming from low income housing this would have been out of the question financially. I was blessed with a full ride scholarship to attend WLC. It meant so much to me to know someone saw potential in me. My time in Chicago was completely incredible! I spent time with 426 ambassadors from 48 states and 16 countries. Meeting people from around the world was life-changing. I made so many new friends and I consider my group at WLC to be like family to me. I found my calling and my purpose while at WLC. God was present during my entire time in Chicago. In fact, He continued to give me signs each day. At night I would just sit in my bed with the lights off and I would stare at the ceiling while thinking about all I had learned each day I could never sleep because every time I looked up at my ceiling I saw a cross. I’m not sure if it was actually there or if it was something only I could see. All I did know was God was planning something big. While Chicago was beautiful it isn’t the city I miss, it’s the beautiful people I had the pleasure of getting to know while in Chicago that I truly miss. In fact I made one friend named Karley, and God told me to never lose her. Not sure what He has planned for the two of us, but we do talk every day and even though we live on opposite sides of the country I still consider her to be one of my best friends. At WLC we worked on a Global Challenge Workshop to help us plan out our ideas for the future and to realize what truly interests us so we can eventually make a difference. I like to call my organization idea Your Village. My goal is to help rebuild families who struggle with drug addictions. My mom is my biggest inspiration in my life and is my best friend. When I was younger she struggled with a severe drug addiction and was in and out of jail when I was in first and second grade. I am going to open up a center where I can take kids under my wing and have them live with me. I want to help kids realize their full potential and to help them realize their parents decisions don’t have to reflect their own. We would also help the parents become sober and help the children to understand people do and always will make mistakes, but it is possible to learn from your mistakes and to get better. We would then reunite the families. I was blessed enough to become 1 of 7 finalists out of the 426 ambassadors at WLC for my organization idea. HOBY is like family and helped me to realize my full potential. At HOBY I realized there is no greater feeling to me than seeing the sparkle in someone’s eyes knowing you just made their heart smile. I really found myself and I can honestly say HOBY has changed my life. I’m blessed to have been so involved with HOBY thus far, but it doesn’t end here. The way I see it this is just the beginning. I’m ready to change the world one smiling heart at a time!
Posted on: Sat, 16 Aug 2014 07:19:58 +0000
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