“Meet Up” with Melissa, an Empowerment Academy Graduate
Blog Post by Michelle New
Last summer Project Glimmer piloted our first Empowerment Academy, powered by the Babson College Center for Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership. This six week leadership program is taught by skilled trainers and peer mentors for high school students. The Empowerment Academy gives the girls we serve the opportunity to get connected with college mentors and learn valuable goal-setting, presentation, and self-reflection skills. We are holding our 2nd Empowerment Academy Cohort this Spring and are accepting applications!
Melissa, a high school junior from New York City, participated in Project Glimmer Empower Hours, One-On-One Career Coaching sessions, and graduated from the first cohort of our Empowerment Academy. Melissa lived in Bermuda before New York and identifies with Caribbean culture, using food as a way to explore different cultures along with her own. She swims competitively, plays on her school’s varsity volleyball team, and sings. Melissa has a passion for creativity and expresses her uniqueness through fashion in the form of thrifting clothes as well as styling her hair.
“As a black girl, my hair is my pride. Whether I rock box braids, locs, twists, or an afro I can make it a part of my style. I can change the color and the length to fit my mood and I can add gold cuffs or beads to fit the occasion. Presenting myself authentically and unapologetically is my goal and my fashion helps me achieve that.”
Melissa became involved with Project Glimmer by attending an Empower Hour event in early 2021. She “admired the vision that Project Glimmer had and was so grateful for the opportunity to learn more about career readiness and how eye-opening different aspects of the workplace all came together for a common passion.” Melissa then applied to Project Glimmers' first Empowerment Academy and was accepted. I was able to “meet up” with Melissa and hear how Project Glimmer impacted her over the last year.
“Project Glimmer has been an influential aspect of my life and I am so lucky to have gotten the chance to be a part of these programs.”
Please tell me about your experience in the Empowerment Academy and its impact on you.
I learned valuable life lessons that helped me with confidence, productivity, accountability, and of course self-empowerment. The program was focused on us creating S.M.A.R.T: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-based goals. We met once a week over Zoom to discuss our goals. We got to know our leaders and each other better through these discussions and it helped us create a strong sense of community. Each week we were tasked with taking a step towards our personal goal and recruiting a community to keep us motivated and responsible. In our breakout rooms, we would present our goals and report on our progress. Additionally, we had guest speakers who shared with us their careers and life stories aimed at motivating us to keep creating and achieving all our goals.
Why should high school students apply for the Academy?
Project Glimmer’s Empowerment Academy is a great opportunity to learn tangible skills that can be applied to other parts of your life. The program also gave me the opportunity to connect not only with the other participants but with the peer mentors who were actually students at Babson College. Their insight and leadership in addition to the program mentor, Ashely Lucas made me feel comfortable and my perspective acknowledged. In this Academy, you learn meaningful lessons and are a part of thought-provoking discussions furthering how these issues and lessons can be greatly influential to our lives and overall outlook.
How have you applied the skills you learned from the academy in your school, work, personal life and what are some lessons you learned and will take with you?
At the start of the Academy, we were tasked with setting a goal, mine being to become a better volleyball player. Throughout the course, we had weekly assignments where we took steps to achieve our set goals. For me, each week I worked on a different skill such as serving, spiking, digging, etc. These assignments not only helped me achieve my personal goal but taught me life skills on how to set goals for myself and how to go about achieving them by breaking them down into a manageable plan. At the end of each week, with one step completed we shared our progress with the other participants, refining our public speaking techniques when it came to engaging with our audiences. These skills have transferred themselves to my other passions, like singing and presenting in school.
What is your definition of empowerment and how has it changed since becoming involved with Project Glimmer?
My definition of empowerment used to be the act of being confident in yourself, not being influenced by other people, and being firm in your beliefs and principles. I still hold this definition to be true and have been able to expand that definition through my involvement with Project Glimmer. Now, my definition of empowerment has evolved to include being surrounded by empowered people who not only teach you to appreciate and acknowledge your worth but hold you accountable and offer meaningful critiques and advice. People have to learn by example, whether it's how to tie your shoelaces or how to braid your hair, empowerment is not different and cannot be achieved in a vacuum.
What have been your main takeaways from your Project Glimmer experiences?
Through the programs and opportunities given to me by Project Glimmer, I have learned to be confident in myself and my decisions. I have also learned to have faith and trust myself to do what is best for me and to put myself first. Through the Empowerment Academy specifically, I have learned that my goals are achievable and I only need to put in the work and stay dedicated both physically and mentally. Lastly, and most importantly I have learned to advocate for myself and stay true to my passion when it comes to finding a career that allows me to be creative every day.
The Empowerment Academy is open to current high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors. The program will run from April 9th - May 17th and is designed to instill confidence and help fuel early ambition and vision for the future. At the completion of this program, participants will receive a $500 stipend and walk away with a new set of tools + knowledge that will move you towards accomplishing your goals. The deadline to apply is February 28th.