“Walk away with confidence to be yourself”
By Loreen Berlin
“Congratulations to all of the SMART Girls,” said Guest Speaker Tranece Harris, executive director of Kofi Harris Consulting, during the recent Buena Park “SMART Girls” graduation at the Knott’s Berry Farm Hotel.
Each SMART Girls program culminates with a graduation ceremony, recognizing and celebrating the girl’s achievements in front of family, friends and community leaders and city officials.
The Boys & Girls Club of Buena Park began its SMART Girls program in 2006 to promote positive values, encourage healthy lifestyle choices, foster relationships and support positive behavior by providing the girls opportunities to sustain meaningful relationships with peers and adults through group activities and mentorship.
Soroptimist International of Buena Park sponsors the program with the Club and works to help the girls develop a positive self-image and to develop good character through thoughtful discussions and learning activities, along with exploring their own and other’s cultures through interaction, guest presentations and role playing.
Harris continued, “I’m so proud of each of you and my hope is that if you don’t walk away from this program with anything else, you will walk away with the confidence to be yourself and to have the courage to have values and standards and not compromise those values for anything or anyone.”
She told the girls that if they have to pretend to be something or someone they’re not, just to get someone to like them, or to make a friend, or get accepted into a school, or perhaps land a certain job, “That particular thing may not be for you.”
Harris encouraged the girls to, “Be yourself and you will attract the people and the things you are meant to attract.”
Her message was not to fit in, even when there are pressures to do so, but to stand out. “We are all created with different gifts and talents and we all have a purpose in life; to find your purpose, what do you naturally gravitate toward? Do you like music, dance, art, to write, or do you like caring for others? The more you get to know yourself, the more you will learn your purpose in life; don’t ever be afraid of what you will lose as a result of being yourself; rather, be excited for what you will gain as a result of being yourself; it will be worth it,” Harris said.
Harris also admonished the girls not to compare themselves with others as she read a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
Harris’ parting remarks for the girls was, “Remember to always say nice things about yourself, because ‘you’ are listening; tell yourself you are beautiful, for the more you know the truth about yourself, the less likely you are to believe something that’s not true, and remember to know who you are and be confident in yourself.”
Program Director Luz Valenzuela-Trout said the SMART Girls Program in Buena Park is a nine month program for teen girls supported by Soroptimist International of Buena Park, an organization of professional women who work to improve the lives of women and girls in local communities.
“They dedicate more than 150 hours of volunteer service and more than $1,000 in support to SMART Girls annually, serving as mentors and assisting with facilitating the program, working to develop long-term and meaningful relationships with the girls that extend beyond the duration of the program.”
