When I moved to Reno, I immediately sought out the GOTR program as I had pervious exposure to it in the Bay Area, CA from my mother. It was a program I fell in love with from the get-go! When I was a school-aged girl, I became a high school and collegiate competitive athlete, and remain an athlete today, but my personal confidence and understanding of my talents was virtually non-existent even though I was well accoladed and successful in my sports. I never had a female role model to lift me up and teach me about my own “remark ability” and how to believe in myself. I was self learned, and the process was full of ups and downs.
Girls on the Run gives me the chance to give back, and to apply my own story of having to figure out my own strengths and value by empowering girls to believe in themselves. Being able to get to know each girl’s unique personality through the program and personal conversations, and then giving them the tools to grow themselves into a good, confident, and healthy human in an individually assessed way, was my favorite part. Not all girls are outgoing, not all are athletic, not all are outwardly funny…but each of them is so uniquely wonderful! It was incredibly special to watch them evolve over the course of the program, and to see their “star power” really shine more and more at each practice and at the 5k!
Allowing myself to step outside my own comfort has allowed me to teach that strength to other girls, and I couldn’t be more proud to be part of the GOTR family. I coach for myself, for the girls who seek to be better humans, for my niece, and for my future daughter one day!
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Photo credit: Image courtesy of the storyteller.