Garyn Clark
Miss Norfolk State University
Interview Video »
Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Tyra Banks, Beyoncé. These women are female icons, role models, inspirations, and mirrors into their local communities as well as the global community. These women along with so many others are not only seen on television, but they are seen in their communities giving back. That is why girls and women all over desire and dream to be successful and live as those women live. In addition to these great women of community service, I too will be a mirror into my community.
My platform as Miss Norfolk State University is “Female Empowerment from the Adolescent Years to Young Adulthood.” Statistics show that by the age of fourteen, many girls begin to experience depression. Between the ages of nine and twelve, some girls begin to develop eating disorders, and more girls than boys have been proven to use alcohol and drugs at an early age. These facts frighten me and drive me to want to make a difference in as many of these girls’ lives as I can. I plan to work with the local Boys and Girls Club of America, my church home, as well as local public schools in order to reach out to girls and young women who have low self-esteem, low self-worth, and a lack of knowledge in the home-economic field.
The Boys and Girls Club of America has a national program called SMART Girls. The word SMART in SMART Girls stands for Skills Mastery and Resistance Training. This program works to build self-esteem and self-worth in girls ages 8 to 17. It teaches girls how to nurture their physical and mental well-beings. The girls also take time to focus on “physical and emotional developments that occur during adolescence, media influence on attitudes and behaviors toward females, development of personal values in dating relationships, sexually transmitted diseases, and eating disorders.” In addition, the girls are taught personal fitness and basic cooking skills.
I would like to involve myself with the efforts of the SMART Girls program because I understand the value of self-worth and high self-esteem and feel that I can instill that value in other girls. My goal is to share my personal stories, let the girls freely express themselves, be an example of a woman who loves and values herself, and be a support system for the girls who are experiencing trials.
All girls need this kind of program in their lives. Therefore, I also plan to reach out to girls in my church and in local elementary, middle, and high schools. Unfortunately, churches and schools do not have programs for girls to discuss personal problems they may have and learn how to deal with those problems. That causes them to keep their problems bottled up, be unaware of how to make the right decisions, and potentially experience low self-esteem and self-worth. In addition, all girls should possess basic cooking skills and have a basic knowledge of personal fitness. If girls in my church and local schools are not members of the Boys and Girls Club, they may not be exposed to this either. As I reach out to these girls and young women, I will have rap sessions and hands-on training sessions that will address dating, physical and emotional developments, sex, eating disorders, and any other issues and concerns they may have.
Every girl and young woman that I come in contact with will see my smile, hear my story, feel my love and concern for them, and have access to me at all times by means of telephone and internet if they so desire. I will be open and honest with them and model the behaviors and attitudes of a productive, successful, intelligent, and beautiful young woman. Hopefully, through this, I will be an inspiration to the girls causing them to make positive changes in their lives, which will eventually lead to them making positive changes throughout their schools, homes, churches, and communities.
