Greetings!
I must say that I had an excellent time with the lovely young ladies of The Girls Circle on May 15, 2010. I visited Columbus, GA, where a lot of my maternal family resides, and spent the entire day with a select few young ladies. We started off our day discussing life in general; coming up with different ways to deal with the pressures of our peers and being ladies in our everyday lives. I shared a few stories about how I was faced with tough decisions and how my choices ultimately changed my life. During that portion, we also assessed the advantages and disadvantages of acting on our first instincts, and we discussed the values of thinking things through before acting. Of course we talked about our educations and how we should plan for the future (education is key!).
The young ladies participated in an exercise I use with all of the students I speak with. I ask the students to write down on the unlined side of an index card where they don't want to see themselves ten years from now before we begin our session, and then as we're closing, they write down on the lined side of the card where they do want to see themselves ten years from now. This allows the students to realize that when you actually write down where you want to be, you can get there even faster, because you've already committed to that goal. It also helps you think about where you don't want to be and ensure that you'll never be there. I make them place their goals on the lined side as this shows them structure; writing down where they don't want to be on the unlined side shows them what can happen when you don't plan and organize accordingly. I really enjoyed this particular session because I felt there was such a need for me to meet those young ladies. If anything, they definitely taught me to always remember that no matter what age you are, problems will find themselves at your feet. However, we have to keep in mind how our decisions today affect our tomorrows.
After our discussion, we had a mini photo shoot (which is always fun for me lol), and then we ventured out for lunch. We also celebrated Miss Jaquana Bales' birthday by bringing her a cake and singing to her in the middle of the restaurant. I definitely plan to visit these young ladies again, and I encourage each and every one of you to mentor someone in your community... you never know whose life you may change!
