ROANOKE, Va. – It was a day of fun with a serious message for more than a hundred middle and high school students in Roanoke Wednesday.
The first Fuel Your Future Boys Conference at the Virginia Tech Carillon School of Medicine sought to show young people many different paths to success.
‘We have a girls conference in the spring as well called ’Ignite Your Purpose' and this time we’re doing one for the boys,” said Tasia VanderVegt, director of programming and initiatives for The Humble Hustle Company, Inc., which organized the conference.
“And we think it’s really important for the boys to be able to come together not only so they get to meet each other and kind of be in community together but all of our speakers are from the community as well.”
The students explored possible college and career paths like arts and music, STEM or medicine.
“Mine was business, we went to a class with someone that owned their own business,” said Tahj Thompson, a senior at William Fleming High School. “So then they broke down how they developed their own business and what drives them to this point and why they came back and why they do what they do.”
Thompson and the other students also took part in interactive exercises on mental health and leadership.
“No matter what you’re going through, just keep going because it’s not always going to be a sunny day,” said Qasim Jackson, a William Fleming High School senior. “But like you can’t let the rainy days stop the future or what you can have in the future, you have to keep going.”
Jackson is also taking Master Barbering at DAYTEC. His instructor George Harrington said he’s glad the conference provided mentoring and valuable life lessons for the students so they don’t follow the path he once did.
He credits his faith for providing him with the grace to help young people.
“I was once just like them. I had a dream of going to college but my dream fell short because I caught up in the streets. I had to find my purpose and my passion,” he said. “That’s why I try do right by them and let them know to make the right choice.”
Organizers told me they hope the students walk away feeling empowered and more confident about their choices for the future.
“I think this program can help us understand that we, individually, we are someone,” said Ashton March, a senior at William Fleming High School. “We want to be our own person, not someone else.”