a scoop of mint chip for Dad coffee
almond fudge for my mom two scoops of
vanilla for my sister and for this visit
candy carnival when I was three years
old I would never order the same flavor
of ice cream twice
I mean why I always get the same thing
when there’s pistachio almond strawberry
cheesecake or just something new to try
the man who ran our local ice cream shop
said he had never seen a kid who tried
something new every single time to me
this seemed normal but I guess most kids
are expected to stick to their known
flavors
I liked not being not locked into what I
had done before or what was expected of
me and not every flavor was great but at
least I tried
too often we get stuck doing the same
things over and over again this is about
more than what dessert you order
it’s about all kinds of things we face
as kids teens and young adults it can be
hard to break away from what everyone
wants us to do I believe that at our age
we are still trying to figure out who we
are and to find our place in the world
but the media society our friends our
teachers and our parents try to tell us
who we should be and what we should do
and some might say that you go against
these influences you have to be brave
and what most people think of bravery
they think of things like jumping off of
cliffs but bravery doesn’t have to be
about taking these big risks it can be
about taking the small ones in fifth
grade I was faced with a choice I could
move on from my local elementary school
to my neighborhood middle school with
all my friends or I could apply to a
unique magnet school called Ann Richards
Ann Richards is a middle school and a
high school where they wear uniforms
have longer school days oh and it’s all
girls there were a lot of reasons why I
thought I shouldn’t go I thought I’d be
giving up my individuality Friday night
football games my chances of meeting
boys went way down
and plus I would have to make all new
friends which is enough of a challenge
already to accept my offer to attend the
Ambridge school would mean leaving
behind everybody I had known since
kindergarten but it also meant opening
myself up to a unique educational
environment the Ann Richards school for
young woman leaders has rigorous
academics and high expectations for
every student’s 100% of our graduates
have gone on to four-year colleges
sixty-five percent of those are the
first people and their families to go to
college we’ve also heard millions of
dollars in merit-based scholarships at
the time my sister was attending a
different magnet high school and I had
seen all the advantages that this had
brought her so I decided to go for it
and in my first year I was invited by
some teachers to talk with some
potential donors who were thinking about
funding our schools makerspace not many
sixth graders get asked to participate
in fundraising conversations and this
was just one of the amazing
opportunities I’ve gotten because I
decided to go my own way
and not follow the crowd and in the end
this was quite possibly the best
decision I have ever made if you google
the term successful teens you will find
hundreds of stories of young scientists
entrepreneurs media moguls
philanthropists and fashion designers
who are making headlines for their giant
discoveries and contributions to the
world but we don’t all have to be making
headlines to make a difference I am NOT
an expert I’m just a girl who’s trying
to find her place in the world well at
the same time tried to get my driver’s
license for the past six months I’ve
been following the YouTube video diaries
of the journey of Jessica Mills also
known as Dixie Dixie is a
thirtysomething year-old woman who
walked away from a successful career as
an engineer in Denver Colorado to hike
the Appalachian Trail in case you don’t
know about the Appalachian Trail it is a
two thousand 180 mile hike that takes an
average of six months to complete you
live in a tent and walk about 20 miles a
day every day
all of your possessions on your back it
is extremely long hard lonely and most
people who attempt it never complete the
journey on October 19th 2015
Dixey arrived in Maine at the end of the
trail this is not something most people
would expect from a young woman with a
good job and a busy life to go and do
plus most people who do this hike are
men and she decided to do it alone
but she didn’t let any of that stop her
from achieving her dream oh and she
didn’t stop there this year on October
12th she completed the two thousand six
hundred and fifty mile Pacific Crest
Trail and next year she plans on hiking
the 3100 mile Continental Divide Trail
thus completing the hiker triple crown I
love the idea of undertaking a journey
like this and I plan on hiking the
Appalachian Trail after I finish college
as I’ve talked about this with my
parents they have cautioned me about the
many obstacles I will face while
undertaking this journey they remind me
it’s long hard and cold and that there
are sometimes days where hikers are low
on food and that it could be a while
before they get to the next town
well it’s not that they’re not
supportive of my dreams it’s just
parents worry about things like a young
woman hiking through the woods across 14
states but this is something I hope to
do with my life and I accept that there
are hardships that come along with
accomplishing great things oh and as for
my parents concerns well this is still
six or seven years away and I’ll be an
adult so I won’t need their permission
my own thoughts about how to go your own
way come from looking at the long view
rather than the short term we often hear
teachers and parents say what others
think doesn’t matter and it’s easier
said than done and plus we’re teenagers
it kind of matters to us and it can be
so easy to just follow the crowd if your
focus is only on today but if you look
at the long-term view it becomes much
easier to disregard what other people
think and to make choices for you and
only you
as a teenager I spend a lot of time
watching YouTube come on you do it too
and many of the youtubers we enjoyed did
not set out to become famous or to get
millions of views they just tried new
things and talked about ideas that
interested them and if you read the bios
of many of these YouTube celebrities
many of them went to prestigious
colleges and studied serious subjects
like economics or marketing strategies
they just made their videos for fun and
talked about ideas that interested them
not society as a whole it was their
personal passion and style that created
their following Tyler Oakley is a great
example of this and he got started
making videos on YouTube as a way to
communicate with his friends from high
school who are at different colleges now
he is an internationally known
personality and activist who has
appeared on many TV shows including The
Ellen Show so how can we find ourselves
well I’m not sure I know all the answers
or any of them but for me it’s all about
think talk do I spend a lot of time
thinking about my future and things that
interests me and then I talk about it a
lot ask my friends my teachers my sister
or my parents I can talk a lot but
talking with others about things that
interests me helps me figure out if I’m
really interested in the subject or if
it’s just a passing thought and then I
do something while I’m not ready to take
on that six month hike just yet I’ve
gotten my parents to take me out smaller
hikes at home in Texas and to the Grand
Canyon which has helped me discover that
I love being in nature so what interests
you what does going your own way it look
like to you think about it talk about it
and then take small actions to see if
you really like it and you know maybe
even break some rules well I’m not
telling you become a rebel you still
have to make good choices but before we
can find ourselves we must look for what
it is that truly inspires us and how
long the way you might stumble Sir
Richard Branson once said as a baby we
don’t learn to walk by following rules
we learned to walk by doing and falling
over so
hey to make mistakes we’re teenagers we
don’t have all the answers and we are
not going to do everything right but
before we can reach our potential we
must look for who we are and to find our
place in the world
remember the poet Robert Frost’s words
two roads diverged in a wood and I I
took the one less traveled by and that
has made all the difference and start
small if you’re not ready to order a
double scoop of something at least ask
for a taster spoon use this time in your
life to find your place in the world and
to figure out who you are and what
interests you and remember before we can
go our own way we must find our way
thank you
you
almond fudge for my mom two scoops of
vanilla for my sister and for this visit
candy carnival when I was three years
old I would never order the same flavor
of ice cream twice
I mean why I always get the same thing
when there’s pistachio almond strawberry
cheesecake or just something new to try
the man who ran our local ice cream shop
said he had never seen a kid who tried
something new every single time to me
this seemed normal but I guess most kids
are expected to stick to their known
flavors
I liked not being not locked into what I
had done before or what was expected of
me and not every flavor was great but at
least I tried
too often we get stuck doing the same
things over and over again this is about
more than what dessert you order
it’s about all kinds of things we face
as kids teens and young adults it can be
hard to break away from what everyone
wants us to do I believe that at our age
we are still trying to figure out who we
are and to find our place in the world
but the media society our friends our
teachers and our parents try to tell us
who we should be and what we should do
and some might say that you go against
these influences you have to be brave
and what most people think of bravery
they think of things like jumping off of
cliffs but bravery doesn’t have to be
about taking these big risks it can be
about taking the small ones in fifth
grade I was faced with a choice I could
move on from my local elementary school
to my neighborhood middle school with
all my friends or I could apply to a
unique magnet school called Ann Richards
Ann Richards is a middle school and a
high school where they wear uniforms
have longer school days oh and it’s all
girls there were a lot of reasons why I
thought I shouldn’t go I thought I’d be
giving up my individuality Friday night
football games my chances of meeting
boys went way down
and plus I would have to make all new
friends which is enough of a challenge
already to accept my offer to attend the
Ambridge school would mean leaving
behind everybody I had known since
kindergarten but it also meant opening
myself up to a unique educational
environment the Ann Richards school for
young woman leaders has rigorous
academics and high expectations for
every student’s 100% of our graduates
have gone on to four-year colleges
sixty-five percent of those are the
first people and their families to go to
college we’ve also heard millions of
dollars in merit-based scholarships at
the time my sister was attending a
different magnet high school and I had
seen all the advantages that this had
brought her so I decided to go for it
and in my first year I was invited by
some teachers to talk with some
potential donors who were thinking about
funding our schools makerspace not many
sixth graders get asked to participate
in fundraising conversations and this
was just one of the amazing
opportunities I’ve gotten because I
decided to go my own way
and not follow the crowd and in the end
this was quite possibly the best
decision I have ever made if you google
the term successful teens you will find
hundreds of stories of young scientists
entrepreneurs media moguls
philanthropists and fashion designers
who are making headlines for their giant
discoveries and contributions to the
world but we don’t all have to be making
headlines to make a difference I am NOT
an expert I’m just a girl who’s trying
to find her place in the world well at
the same time tried to get my driver’s
license for the past six months I’ve
been following the YouTube video diaries
of the journey of Jessica Mills also
known as Dixie Dixie is a
thirtysomething year-old woman who
walked away from a successful career as
an engineer in Denver Colorado to hike
the Appalachian Trail in case you don’t
know about the Appalachian Trail it is a
two thousand 180 mile hike that takes an
average of six months to complete you
live in a tent and walk about 20 miles a
day every day
all of your possessions on your back it
is extremely long hard lonely and most
people who attempt it never complete the
journey on October 19th 2015
Dixey arrived in Maine at the end of the
trail this is not something most people
would expect from a young woman with a
good job and a busy life to go and do
plus most people who do this hike are
men and she decided to do it alone
but she didn’t let any of that stop her
from achieving her dream oh and she
didn’t stop there this year on October
12th she completed the two thousand six
hundred and fifty mile Pacific Crest
Trail and next year she plans on hiking
the 3100 mile Continental Divide Trail
thus completing the hiker triple crown I
love the idea of undertaking a journey
like this and I plan on hiking the
Appalachian Trail after I finish college
as I’ve talked about this with my
parents they have cautioned me about the
many obstacles I will face while
undertaking this journey they remind me
it’s long hard and cold and that there
are sometimes days where hikers are low
on food and that it could be a while
before they get to the next town
well it’s not that they’re not
supportive of my dreams it’s just
parents worry about things like a young
woman hiking through the woods across 14
states but this is something I hope to
do with my life and I accept that there
are hardships that come along with
accomplishing great things oh and as for
my parents concerns well this is still
six or seven years away and I’ll be an
adult so I won’t need their permission
my own thoughts about how to go your own
way come from looking at the long view
rather than the short term we often hear
teachers and parents say what others
think doesn’t matter and it’s easier
said than done and plus we’re teenagers
it kind of matters to us and it can be
so easy to just follow the crowd if your
focus is only on today but if you look
at the long-term view it becomes much
easier to disregard what other people
think and to make choices for you and
only you
as a teenager I spend a lot of time
watching YouTube come on you do it too
and many of the youtubers we enjoyed did
not set out to become famous or to get
millions of views they just tried new
things and talked about ideas that
interested them and if you read the bios
of many of these YouTube celebrities
many of them went to prestigious
colleges and studied serious subjects
like economics or marketing strategies
they just made their videos for fun and
talked about ideas that interested them
not society as a whole it was their
personal passion and style that created
their following Tyler Oakley is a great
example of this and he got started
making videos on YouTube as a way to
communicate with his friends from high
school who are at different colleges now
he is an internationally known
personality and activist who has
appeared on many TV shows including The
Ellen Show so how can we find ourselves
well I’m not sure I know all the answers
or any of them but for me it’s all about
think talk do I spend a lot of time
thinking about my future and things that
interests me and then I talk about it a
lot ask my friends my teachers my sister
or my parents I can talk a lot but
talking with others about things that
interests me helps me figure out if I’m
really interested in the subject or if
it’s just a passing thought and then I
do something while I’m not ready to take
on that six month hike just yet I’ve
gotten my parents to take me out smaller
hikes at home in Texas and to the Grand
Canyon which has helped me discover that
I love being in nature so what interests
you what does going your own way it look
like to you think about it talk about it
and then take small actions to see if
you really like it and you know maybe
even break some rules well I’m not
telling you become a rebel you still
have to make good choices but before we
can find ourselves we must look for what
it is that truly inspires us and how
long the way you might stumble Sir
Richard Branson once said as a baby we
don’t learn to walk by following rules
we learned to walk by doing and falling
over so
hey to make mistakes we’re teenagers we
don’t have all the answers and we are
not going to do everything right but
before we can reach our potential we
must look for who we are and to find our
place in the world
remember the poet Robert Frost’s words
two roads diverged in a wood and I I
took the one less traveled by and that
has made all the difference and start
small if you’re not ready to order a
double scoop of something at least ask
for a taster spoon use this time in your
life to find your place in the world and
to figure out who you are and what
interests you and remember before we can
go our own way we must find our way
thank you
you
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