Yá’át’èèh Shí éí Ariana Largo yinishyé. Naakai dine’é nishłį, Ta’neeszahnii ėí bá shíshchíín, To’dich’ii’nii ėí dashicheii, Bit’ ahnii èí dashinálí.
Hello my name is Ariana Largo I’m a senior at Cuba High School, this is my first year in Evolvement. At first I thought that I wasn’t suitable for Evolvement or the leadership team. I kept worrying about getting embarrassed in front of the other leadership team members. Even when Mr. Delgado, my school’s Evolvement advisor, asked if I was interested in going to the Summit, I kept telling him “I’m not sure” and “I’ll let you know.” I told him that over and over until I finally told myself to go and get out of my shy bubble.
The first day I came to the Summit I was so scared to talk or make eye contact with others. But they made me feel so comfortable and welcome, everyone was so nice and it even felt like we’d known each other before! They helped me feel more comfortable talking with other members and even strangers. They helped me find my voice and even to believe in myself and not second guess myself. While at the summit, I got to develop a great bond with everyone on the leadership team.
The leadership team summit is where you learn how to be a good leader, how to recruit other members at your school, how to collect surveys, and how to be involved in the campaigns through presentations and meetings. We also talk about why this work is important to us and why we are all passionate about the program. This program is important to me because I don’t want youth to have problems in the future with their health. I also deeply care about this work because my uncle struggled with addiction to nicotine and is struggling with his health. This is why I am on the leadership team, so I can make the change I want to see.
