A Greater Profit by Callie

A Greater Profit by Callie - February 2020 Scholarship Essay

If I was creating a nonprofit organization, I would want to create something for teens and pre-teens that was sort of an art-therapy program. It could either be an in-school program, something online, an actual store-front, or some combination of all three. It would emphasize that fluctuating hormones and emotions are normal and give them a safe place to learn to process what they are feeling and express it creatively. I have served with youth for 5 years now and see that so often, they do not feel like they even know themselves, and they do not know how to make themselves heard outside of harming themselves. I want to show that there are safe and healthy ways, even beautiful and creative ways, to share what they are feeling and grow from it. I want them to know that their experiences do not define them, and that they are strong enough to overcome. I would love for an organization to be available for them to go to, where they could receive counseling, mentorship, friendship, and experiment with different forms of art and expression. I would love to see boys learning to feel, to express and communicate with mentors the rage that builds inside of them before it hurts anyone. I would love for them to know that they are valued and can create and dance and write and that emotional expression is not wrong just because they are male. I would love for girls to know that they are strong, not weak. I would love for them to know that their feelings and hormones are not a hinderance that they must put up with, to learn about their bodies and how to take care of them, understand them, and keep them healthy. I would love for boys and girls both to know that there is no shame in what they feel, and that their feelings can be good and create good. I would love for them to know that they are not powerless against what oppresses them. I would love for them to know that they are both seen and loved. I would love for my organization to be a place where they know people genuinely care about them. Raising up a generation of people that know it's okay to be people, to be human, would be the greatest profit for our world.