What A Time To Be Alive! This is totally the appropriate title for our 2nd Annual Empowerment Seminar. The event was held at UNC-Charlotte on March, 25th 2017.
The theme for this event was inspired by a picture of a young lady exuding confidence, a certain boldness and fearlessness. The caption on the this picture read “What A Time To Be Alive”. This birthed the theme for the empowerment seminar for this year. This raised the questions, why not be bold? Why not be confident? Why not be great?
Oftentimes when the decision is made to live on purpose, challenges begin to arise. In dealing with these unexpected circumstances, fear begin to creep in because we question how we will deal with them. The speakers for the event were absolutely dynamic and addressed those questions.
Ms. Cara J. Terrance shared her story of how fear has tried to play its part in her life from birth, with doctors informing her parents of her life expectancy and how her parents not accepting their reports as her truth. As well as overcoming divorce and leading a life in faith. From the beginning her parents instilled in her the faith necessary she would need to push through all of life’s ups and downs. Through it all she has learned how to ‘keep it moving’ and in doing so, she shared her Mindset Strategies.
Ms. Monica McNeill shared ’10 Points To Overcome Fear’. One pointer in particular stood out, which was, “Look for truth instead of hiding from the facts. Fear feeds on lies.” So many times we hide from the truth of our situations. However, the quicker we face the truth, the sooner we’re able to address the situation at hand. Lying about our circumstances gets us no where. We must see F.E.A.R as Face Everything And Rise. Usually the story we make up in our heads is worse than the situation will ever be. Be scared and do it anyway.
Ms. Dionne M. Lackey was our keynote speaker. She gave us ways to “The Breakthrough” – Steps from Fear to Freedom. One of the keys everyone was able to receive was the importance of taking a break of at least 24-48hrs. This is considered a staycation within. We were encouraged to take a moment to stop and do nothing so you can decompress. Allow ourselves the time to rest so we can be rejuvenated, without the fear of “looking” as if we are not making moves. Its important that we do whats best for our mind and bodies.
This is just a snippet of what was shared. Our speakers provided us with vital information that we can apply to the obstacles that show up from time to time and stall us from moving forward. However, we are equipped to rise to the occasion.
Also, on our program was Jade Mack, the making of what we would call a renaissance girl. Singer, dancer, poet, actress and community leader… she read two poems that were on point! ‘Clear Vision and 2Timothy1:7. Dekayla Monae closed the program with her rendition of Kehlani’s song “Bright”. Everyone was moved by the words spoken and sung by these young ladies. We are looking forward to hearing about the great things to come from these two Fly Girls!
Before the program ended, there was already talk about next year’s Empowerment Seminar. This was confirmation that everyone enjoyed the event. We are looking forward to it!
We are excited to announce our week long Soar Summer Program! More details will follow in the coming weeks. Save the dates for the week of August 7th through 12th, 2017. It is our honor to bring forth programs that enrich the minds and lives of young ladies, as well as programs that uplift the community.
Ubuntu!