My Experience as an MLK Scholar at PYD

This week is now officially the last work week being at PYD as a Summer Scholar (sob, cry, sniff sniff). The experience for the past six weeks has been nothing short of engaging, educational, and has some of the most memorable moments during this summer. I learned about how to be a professional writer for a company and collaborate and discuss my writing to be put out on the website; I’ve been involved in PYD events such as the Youth Leadership Forum, and Access To Theatre; and I attended an event to raise money for HIV/AIDS research hosted by Kiehl’s. I’ve learned a lot, I’ve seen a lot, and I am so grateful to have had this opportunity–and hopefully, even more opportunities like it in the future.

As a part of my role, I had to attend bi-weekly seminars hosted by the MLK Summer Scholars program and John Hancock. During each of the Friday seminars, Summer Scholars from across multiple organizations each participated in community building activities under the motto “Seize today to own tomorrow.” The first session focused on physical and mental health by bringing in a motivational speaker before the scholars went out to the football field for exercises and yoga. The second session focused in creating a model of what Boston will be like in the year 2030. We received a bag of random items such as sticky tape, pipe cleaners, plates, and even an old floppy disk to create this model. The third session (which I was not able to attend due to my commitments to ATT) focused on financial literacy and how to better manage your money.

This entry is the ninth, and final, during my time as an MLK Scholar. But I’m sure from time to time I’ll contribute to PYD again in the future. I have many big plans ahead of me–can’t say what exactly–but no one has seen the last of me yet.

One last thing I would like to say is thank you to the Partners For Youth With Disabilities staff for accepting me as your own for the brief period of time I had, and for helping me navigate this sometimes wacky job. I can’t say enough about how great the experience has been, and I hope to work with all of you again soon.

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