Leaving a Lasting Impact
From starting the club my freshman year to the numerous meetings, Wellness and Red Ribbon Week events, and other awareness initiatives, Herren Project has been a pivotal part of my time in high school. Now, well into my senior year, I reflect on my growth as an intentional and passionate advocate in the various communities I have become a part of. The lessons I have learned over the past four years now shape the plans my team and I are putting forth as we work hard this year to ensure the spirit of Herren Project remains in the halls of Godwin.
From Leadership to Listening
Over the last four years, I have had the privilege of working alongside peers at my grade level to curate activities and presentations. This year, however, we have intentionally shifted from leading programming to building alongside underclassmen. Because Godwin’s Herren Project leadership is currently comprised of seniors, and we will be departing within the next few months, we have made an active effort to engage younger peers early, ensuring they are passionate about Herren’s mission as they prepare to finish this year strong and carry initiatives into the next school year.
In creating spaces for younger classmates, leadership and I have spent the past several months continuing conversations in hallways, between classes, and at club interest fairs to ensure underclassmen remain cognizant of the impact Herren Project can have at Godwin. This process has been particularly insightful for me, as I have been consistently reminded of the nuance in perspectives my peers and I bring to engaging the student body on mental health and substance abuse, whether through optimizing our social media presence or considering which mediums of delivery are most effective for reaching different identities and groups of people.
Ensuring Impact Beyond High School
Ensuring impact beyond graduation is multidimensional for fellow leadership and me. While we want Godwin to continue mirroring the values of Herren Project, we also want to ensure that we ourselves continue to advocate for these same values beyond high school, into college or wherever we may go. This year, as part of my passion project for the Youth Ambassador Board, I have chosen to work alongside several Herren Project club members to create a community-run event that raises awareness about substance abuse and mental health.
This initiative is a culmination of the work we have done with the Herren Project, as it represents our first effort to extend beyond the walls of Godwin. By reaching out to surrounding schools and community members, we aim to create broader, more widespread community impact. While the run is still in the preliminary planning stages, we are excited to see how this initiative will shape our legacies at Godwin’s Herren Project.
