Meet Na’il: Youth of the Year for East DeKalb Boys & Girls Club

Na’il

1) How long have you been a member of Boys & Girls Club of Metro Atlanta?

I have been at the Boys & Girls Club for about 9 years.

2) Why is your Boys & Girls Club important to you?

My Club is important to me because it gave me the experience of having a family outside of my real family.

3) What is your career goal? What do you want to do, be when you grow up?

When I grow up I want to be a video game designer.

4) How has your Club supported your goals for college, post-secondary education, and career?

My Club has made it available for us to learn how to make resumes and for us to be able to gain more knowledge about what college life is about.

5) Who has been a major influence in your life? Why?

My Mom has been a huge influence in my life because she has taught me wrong from right, she has taught me to always do my best even when things aren’t going well, and, most importantly, she has shaped me into the human being I am today.

6) What is a success you achieved through the support of your Club?

I was able to meet an owner of a video game company called Virincity and through that, I was able to learn more about video game designing and what I need to start off with if I want to pursue that dream.

7) What is a challenge that your Club helped you overcome?

My Club helped me overcome not communicating with people I don’t know better because in the past I never really speak to anyone. They would mainly have to come talk to me first, I could barely even hold a conversation.

8) Do you volunteer in your community or at the Club? Can you share a few examples of this?

I helped out over the summer by helping out with the smaller children trying to show them the right way to do things or give them another way they could do something, and encouraging them so that they don’t give up.

9) Why do you believe it is important for teens to use their voice in today’s society?

It is important for teens to use their voice in this society because of the fact that your voice is your power. Without your voice, you can’t share your opinions with the people around you. With your voice, you can tell the world that there are problems going on and because you have a voice they have no choice but to listen to what you have to say. Even if they say no, you can continue voicing your opinions until you get a yes.

10) What are you doing, what can you do to spark positive change in today’s society?

I can spark a positive change in society by telling people to strive and stay determined to achieve their dreams. Lots of people in the world today are being told that they cannot achieve or be what they want to be. I believe that is wrong. I think you should be able to be what you want to be, no matter what anyone says. I want to change people’s mindsets to let them know that they can be what they want to be and they should be exactly that.

11) What moment or moments in your Club do you believe have shaped you to serve as your Club’s Youth of the Year

Moments that I had in my Club that shaped me to serve as Youth of the Year were all the field trips. Overall, just the time I have spent with everyone at the Club making bonds with the kids and teens there. I remember just a few days ago, there was a group of little kids that came up to me and asked if I could work at the Club again over the summer, that moment just resonated through me because I had made such an impact on their young minds that they would remember me when I look completely different from what I looked like during the summer.