My name is Carmelita Santana, a fourth-year Business Management student specializing in Marketing at Concordia University Edmonton (CUE). My vision is to launch my own international makeup line. Alongside my studies, I’ve served as Vice President of the CUE Management Union and as a Student Ambassador, guiding new and prospective students as they adjust to university life.
For the past decade, I have been deeply committed to community service. I have mentored at the Boys and Girls Club and tutored children in English as a Second Language (ESL), helping them improve their reading and homework skills. My passion for youth development led me to establish the Youth Group at the Fort Saskatchewan Multicultural Association, now 53 members strong. I organize leadership workshops and environmental initiatives like school pollinator gardens and growing vegetables for local food banks.
My dedication has earned me titles such as the Outstanding Girl of the Year in 2017 and nominations for Outstanding Youth of the Year at the Chamber of Commerce Awards in 2017 and 2019.
Looking ahead, I am eager to connect with other businesses, learn from them,and collaborate in ways that will enable me to become a philanthropist. My goal is to make a lasting, positive impact on the lives of children and women in impoverished communities in Canada and worldwide. I believe that we can create a brighter future for all with passion, purpose, and perseverance.
My name is Fasika Hidug, and I’m a 10th-grade student passionate about art. From an early age, I’ve been captivated by the power of art to express views, feelings, and the world around us. Through my drawings and paintings, I strive to translate my unique perspective and life experiences into art that inspires others.
Art has always been my way of evoking emotions and conveying profound messages, prompting people to see the world differently. Despite my challenges, the fulfillment I get from sharing my art makes all the obstacles worthwhile. I’m committed to continuing this journey, growing as an artist, and expanding my reach to touch many lives.
Art isn’t just a passion; it’s my voice and way of making a difference. Art has the power to change hearts and minds, and I aim to use my work to foster understanding, empathy, and connection in a world that often feels divided.
My name is Makayla Oldenburger, a high school graduate. Being in elementary school is like navigating a maze of uncertainties. I used to feel shy and nervous, especially around other kids. Sometimes, it felt like I was invisible, just watching everyone else have fun from the sidelines. It made me wonder if something was wrong with me if I was just not good enough for anyone to notice.
But then, something changed. I found friends who saw me for who I am, even when I couldn’t see it myself. They showed me that I’m not alone and that I matter. Slowly, I started to believe in myself more. I realized that I don’t always have to listen to those doubts in my head.
High school brought its own set of challenges and opportunities. I decided to take a chance and try things that scared me. Getting my first job at 16 felt like a huge accomplishment, something I never thought I could do.
Then, one day, my teacher asked me to help with our school’s open house. It was a big deal for me. Being chosen as a leader made me feel like maybe I have something unique to offer.
However, the real turning point was joining the EmpoweredMe leadership program. It was like a safe space where I could learn to be more confident and face my fears. They taught me that I’m capable of more than I think and that what others think of me doesn’t define who I am.
My journey with EmpoweredMe has been transformative. I’ve shed the label of a shy kid and emerged as a strong, capable individual with immense potential. Because of this experience, I’ve discovered that we are capable of more than we know, and other people’s opinions of us do not determine our worth.
It’s a powerful realization that has filled me with hope and inspiration.
Delaney Youngson, our Rising of the Month, has faced a lifetime of struggles with insecurity stemming from a rare genetic disorder that set her apart from her peers. Born with this condition, she endured criticism and negativity, leading her to develop a deep-seated obsession with comparing herself to others. The divorce of her parents at the age of 8 only intensified her insecurities, leaving her feeling unworthy and isolated.
In coping with her struggles, Delaney turned to the world of rap and Hip-Hop music, initially borrowed from her brother. Amid self-hatred and loneliness, she discovered solace in poetry, making it her therapeutic outlet. As she entered adulthood, she pursued higher education, ultimately finding her passion through journaling and volunteering at a yoga studio. Her dedication and ambition caught the company’s attention, leading to a formal invitation to join their team.
Delaney acknowledges the profound connection between self-perception and one’s thoughts, emphasizing that there’s no quick fix for how we feel about our looks. She has found joy through her journey, treating herself with kindness and redirecting her once upside-down thoughts toward confidence and success. Today, she actively spreads inspirational messages on social media, advocating for the importance of finding passion and not letting others’ opinions define one’s reality.
Delaney Youngson’s story exemplifies resilience, character, and leadership, showcasing her transformation from an insecure young woman to a thriving and confident music professional. Today, we celebrate youths like Delaney who demonstrate these qualities in their communities.
Purchase or stream Deleyni’s music. Links below:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7FXPQvfEkiXJOhdejgVMUf?si=kWWo6DlCQZ6fuKTSBya_bg
SoundCloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/y6S9hh1Mq4McBD748
Apple Music/iTunes: https://music.apple.com/ca/artist/deleyni-youngson/1668899900
TEEN SELF-ESTEEM – AN IMPORTANT TOOL FOR SUCCESS
The teen years are a turbulent and confusing time. It is also often when self-esteem is determined. Self-esteem can create confident successful adults when developed properly, or it can wither under lack of confidence during the crucial move into adulthood. Whatever path a teenage takes during these next few years can define how they live the rest of their life. Many teens today are experiencing low self-esteem and is it a natural part of finding their way. The real question is, how can you rise above this?
Self-esteem improvement is obviously easier in theory, but it is well worth the hard work to make this happen. Low self-esteem usually comes from comparing yourself to other people and believing that you do not measure up. Additionally, it arises from not having the accomplishments or not having a pathway and future clearly laid out.
Taking steps to build your self-esteem is one of the best things you can do for yourself. As you start to improve your feelings of self-worth, your life, attitude and outlook will improve.
Developing high self-esteem can help you to:
• Build confidence
• Take the first steps and appropriate risks to achieve goals
• Surround yourself with people who are positive, respectful and supportive
• Believe in your own abilities
• Have stronger friendships and empowering relationships
• Faces challenges and handle life’s problems.
• Be happy with who you are.
15 Signs Your Child Is A Victim of Bullying
Bullying rates in Canada are two-thirds higher than other Western countries1. In over ninety percent of these situations, bullying could have been put to an end by an innocent bystander2. In today’s technology and connected environment, teenagers are more likely to pull out their cellphones than attempt to assist a fellow student that is being subject to bullying behavior. Parents need to stay educated and help guide their children on appropriate ways to deal with these difficult situations.
Bullying can occur in many forms and situations. Cyber bulling takes place over the internet and often experienced by the child while in their own home. While cyber bullying is the new trend, physical and verbal bullying are just as common3.What parents should acknowledge is that children will often not vocalize to their family that they are being victimized.
During the “Empowered Me” Stix and Stones workshops, my students and l dedicate much of our discussion time on the topic. It is a safe environment which allows students to be open and let out the hurt. There is clearly a high level of anxiety and emotional pain. When asked why they don’t discuss this victimisation with somebody they trust or their caretakers, the response from most of them has been “The stuff my parents tell me to try won’t work” or “ I am too embarrassed to tell anyone” It’s so heartbreaking to listen to those responses and how the students keep this pain close to their chest.
Bullying can cause serious harm to a child’s self-esteem, and will often lead to depression and anxiety. Victims are more likely to commit suicide or participate in criminal activity as an adult4.
The WITS (Walk Away, Ignore, Tell Somebody, Seek Help) program has had a positive impact in bringing together families, schools, communities to create conversations that help with children with bullying and peer victimization.
If parents know the signs of bullying and actively look for these, they can intervene and help their children minimize or put an end to the harassment before it’s too late. There is helpful information available from many sources5.
Here is one of the more comprehensive list of signs:
- A child’s refusal to talk about their day at school or a consistent expression of severe hate towards attending school.
- Sudden mood changes, such as being withdrawn, angry, sad, or anxious.
- Unexplained damage to or missing school supplies, books, toys, electronic devices, or clothes.
- Comments about feeling lonely or having few friends.
- Frequent visits to the nurse’s office with complaints of a headache or stomachache.
- Sudden drop in grades and interest in afterschool activities.
- Problems sleeping, nightmares, or bed wetting.
- Unexplained marks, cuts, scratches, or bruises on your child’s body.
- Sudden change in appetite, either an increase or decrease. Binge eating after school may be a sign that their lunch or lunch money is being taken. A decrease in appetite may be a sign of depression.
- Your Child frequently creates excuses to stay home from school.
- A sudden change in group of friends or loss of friends.
- Your Child might get into trouble more often and start acting out in class.
- He or she avoids using the bathroom at school, and waits until they’re home. Bathrooms are often left unattended, and bullies will use this as an opportunity to harass classmates, knowing there’s no adult supervision.
- Signs of low self-esteem or comments which reflect a feeling of helplessness.
- Your child demonstrates fear of walking to school or taking the bus, and demands that you be there at dismissal time.
If your child is a victim of bullying, do not let them push it aside. Speak to a school administrator and seek help immediately.
Self Esteem and Being Bald
I shaved my hair last month for a United Way fundraising event. Since then, the reaction has ranged from comical to interesting. Appearance and image is important to many of us and hair plays a vital role in this. Hair, especially long, flowing styles, are associated with vitality and youthfulness. Hairstyle can alter one’s looks either positively or negatively. To have one’s hair thin out can be a very difficult situation to deal with and impact the very essence of who we are and how we believe others will perceive us.
Positive self-esteem together with confidence drive our self-perception of being attractive. Hair loss will often lead to lower self-esteem. People faced with baldness are susceptible to psychological and emotional stresses, especially if it is coming at the early stages of their lives. A young adult who experiences hair loss will often be perceived to be an older individual, regardless of how young their face might look.
Frustration and helplessness is arguably the most common reaction associated with bald individuals. At the beginning, the person resorts to using shampoos, hair vitamins and other hair care or hair replacement products. Many, if not most of these solutions, will be seen as a poor substitute for natural hair and this can lead to depression and sometimes, anger issues.
Having just shaved my head, please be assured that being bald is not the end of the world. Attitude and how you carry yourself has far more to do with how the world perceives you than does your hair. Most women might not find this easy. However, consider that a good number of men feel comfortable with bald heads and carry these with pride.
Firstly, focus more on the positive aspects of it rather than the negatives. Ever since l shaved my hair, I have added an extra 40 minutes to my sleeping time, eliminated salon expenses, discovered an entirely new and exciting hair accessory world, and permanently removed the discomfort of hair in my face. I have even improved my running times. My friends now call me “The Bullet” and had l known this could lead to running faster, I would have gotten rid of those curls years ago! I find people now focus more on my facial features and eyes than before. It has made me stand out from the crowd and have used this effectively in drawing people to engage them in conversations when promoting several charity events.
For me, being bald has meant using my image as a bald woman to communicate to people to love themselves unconditionally. And I know that I will never have a bad hair day!
Two Major Ways to Boost Your Self-Esteem to Have a Better Relationship
Likely you may have heard that you have to love yourself in order to have a successful and loving relationship with someone else. But what does it mean to love yourself, and how do you achieve it? Self-love is a contemporary term that is related to understanding yourself, having confidence. This requires independence. The two methods below are tied and true to help you maintain the independence that is important to reconnect with yourself and gain self-esteem:
Take a Break: These might be dreaded words in relationships, but taking a break has gotten a bad reputation. We need vacations from work, we move away from our childhood homes, so taking some time off from a relationship only makes sense. A break doesn’t have to mean your relationship is broken off temporarily, it can mean taking a few days away from each other to recharge, reconnect with family, or go rediscover some of your favorite activities. Getting some space is important for developing your ability to see things from a different perspective, maintain friendships and family, and for maintaining your sense of self as an individual.
Take Care of Yourself: It can be as simple as giving yourself a manicure or as complicated as finally getting to the doctor. If you are spending all your time taking care of others, you may see your worth only as your ability to make them happy, better, and healthier. If you expect others to take care of you, you may end up disappointed or feel helpless if they don’t. It is important to know you need care, and there is no shame in taking opportunities to put yourself first. Taking care of yourself builds your confidence and independence, and this will make you more effective in supporting the ones you love and building a stronger relationship.
Dalai Lama quantified that tragedy should be utilized as a source of strength. Having been faced with a tragedy, I was naturally compelled to ask- why me? So I reverted to what many told me to do. That is, ‘Be Positive.’ I realized that this ‘Be Positive’ attitude which is widely broadcasted and is successful as well, is exactly what prevented me from staying knocked down and from getting knocked out. The utmost wonder in living exists not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. At times, we don’t realize how strong we are until we are faced with tragedy.
Life is like a game of dodgeball. Sometimes we can avoid getting hit, other times you never even see the ball coming that knocks you out. To my friends and every one affected by the fire outbreak in Fort McMurray, this is the time to be resilient. This is the time to be strong. When you put together a jigsaw puzzle you do it piece by piece. You will rebuild your lives again. When you lose something, it comes back in another form.
I cannot say l know how you feel – l don’t. I cannot imagine the tragedy you have been through. Things you lost do not define who you are. How you respond to the things you have lost, is the part you have to make up as you go. But I encourage you to display your positivity by remembering that mental breaks and relaxation will help keep stress chemicals at bay, reducing the likelihood of feeling, or becoming overwhelmed and reactive.
Above all, no matter what sort of difficulties we encounter, how painful the experience, if we lose hope, that becomes our real tragedy.
Bасk to ѕсhооl often means adapting to a new situation or environment for students it can mean that the first dау of kіndеrgаrtеn, junior or senior high school. Both parents and children could be in for changing routines with new рrеѕсhооlѕ or сhіld саrе ѕеttіngѕ; different bus stops and routes; new сlаѕѕrооmѕ and tеасhеrѕ. Successfully fitting into a new situation will build confidence in children. It will tеасh them to learn how to communicate with оthеr аdultѕ and сhіldrеn. Hеlріng сhіldrеn аdарt to new ѕіtuаtіоnѕ саn еаѕе раrеntѕ’ mіndѕ and give them a сhаnсе to bесоmе іnvоlvеd in thеіr сhіldrеn’ѕ еduсаtіоn. Trаnѕіtіоnѕ are еxсіtіng орроrtunіtіеѕ for сhіldrеn to lеаrn and grow. Pаrеntѕ and еаrlу сhіldhооd рrоfеѕѕіоnаlѕ ѕhаrе a rоlе in making сhіldrеn fееl ѕаfе and ѕесurе аѕ thеу mоvе to new еduсаtіоnаl ѕеttіngѕ. Of соurѕе, ѕuсh mіlеѕtоnеѕ in a child’s life саn саuѕе аnxіеtу, tоо. Strеngthеnіng the tіеѕ bеtwееn рrоgrаmѕ and fаmіlіеѕ wіll hеlр сrеаtе ѕmооth trаnѕіtіоnѕ for adults and сhіldrеn alike.
How Раrеntѕ Саn Hеlр:
- Be еnthuѕіаѕtіс аbоut the uрсоmіng сhаngе. If уоu are еxсіtеd and соnfіdеnt, уоur сhіld wіll be tоо.
- Prераrе уоurѕеlf. Take note of how уоur сhіld rеасtѕ to ѕераrаtіоn. If роѕѕіblе, vіѕіt the new ѕеttіng with уоur сhіld. Intrоduсе уоur сhіld to the new tеасhеr or еаrlу childhood рrоfеѕѕіоnаl in аdvаnсе.
- Arrange a рlауdаtе with аnоthеr сhіld from the рrоgrаm, рrеfеrаblу оnе-оn-оnе, ѕо thаt уоur сhіld wіll ѕее a fаmіlіаr fасе when he or ѕhе walks in.
- Start dаіlу rоutіnеѕ thаt wіll add to соntіnuіtу. Let уоur сhіld bесоmе іnvоlvеd with расkіng lunch or lауіng out сlоthеѕ. Alѕо, begin an еаrlіеr bеdtіmе routine in advance.
- Put аѕіdе extra time, раrtісulаrlу on the first dау, for сhаttіng and соmmutіng tоgеthеr. But rеmеmbеr not to рrоlоng the gооd-bуе. If the сhіld whіnеѕ or сlіngѕ, ѕtауіng wіll оnlу make it harder.
- Alwауѕ ѕау gооd-bуе to уоur сhіld. Be firm, but frіеndlу аbоut ѕераrаtіng. Never rіdісulе a сhіld for сrуіng. Inѕtеаd, make ѕuрроrtіvе ѕtаtеmеntѕ like, “іt’ѕ hard to ѕау gооd-bуе.”
- At the end of the work dау, рut аѕіdе уоur соnсеrnѕ and fосuѕ on bеіng a раrеnt.
Remember that teachers and other childhood development experts are professionals. Most have strong experience and are trained to deal with kids who may be anxious, particularly if the child is in a new setting. As a parent, you can familiarize yourself with some techniques below and watch for which are most effective for your child. Teachers and child development experts may use some of the following:
- Making sure асtіvіtіеѕ are dеvеlорmеntаllу аррrорrіаtе for сhіldrеn. Intеrеѕtіng and сhаllеngіng, but dоаblе, асtіvіtіеѕ wіll hеlр сhіldrеn fееl соmfоrtаblе in thеіr new ѕеttіng.
- Getting to know еасh іndіvіduаl сhіld аѕ quісklу аѕ роѕѕіblе. Pаrеntѕ саn рrоvіdе іnfоrmаtіоn аbоut сhіldrеn’ѕ lіkеѕ, dіѕlіkеѕ, and ѕресіаl іntеrеѕtѕ.
- Wеlсоming ѕuggеѕtіоnѕ from fаmіlіеѕ, раrtісulаrlу thоѕе of сhіldrеn with ѕресіаl nееdѕ. Pаrеntѕ саn оffеr ѕресіfіс ѕuggеѕtіоnѕ thеу have found uѕеful for thеіr own сhіld, and аdvіѕе on сlаѕѕrооm ѕеt-uр and mоdіfісаtіоnѕ.
- Holding a оrіеntаtіоn for сhіldrеn and раrеntѕ. Small grоuрѕ wіll make it еаѕіеr for сhіldrеn to get to know еасh оthеr.
- Showing сhіldrеn аrоund the new ѕсhооl or рrоgrаm, іntrоduсіng them to оthеr аdultѕ who are there to hеlр them bесоmе ассlіmаtеd.
- Crеаting раrtnеrѕhірѕ bеtwееn рrе-ѕсhооlѕ and еlеmеntаrу ѕсhооlѕ in the соmmunіtу. Mееtіngѕ mау fосuѕ on the ѕhаrіng of іdеаѕ and соnсеrnѕ.
- Setting up an аrеа for рhоtоѕ of раrеntѕ and fаmіlу mеmbеrѕ thаt сhіldrеn mау “vіѕіt” throughout the dау. These areas can іnсludе іtеmѕ thаt rеflесt the сulturаl еxреrіеnсе of all сhіldrеn to hеlр рrоmоtе a ѕеnѕе of mutuаl rеѕресt and undеrѕtаndіng.
Children, just like аdultѕ, nееd time to аdjuѕt to new реорlе and ѕіtuаtіоnѕ. Exреrіеnсе саn make trаnѕіtіоn a bit еаѕіеr, but еvеn with еxреrіеnсе, сhаngе саn ѕtіll be ѕtrеѕѕful. Pаtіеnсе and undеrѕtаndіng on the раrt of раrеntѕ and tеасhеrѕ or саrеgіvеrѕ wіll hеlр сhіldrеn lеаrn how to аррrоасh new ѕіtuаtіоnѕ with соnfіdеnсе ѕkіll thаt wіll hеlр them make ѕuссеѕѕful trаnѕіtіоnѕ all thrоugh life.