Aurora’s Club experience started nine years ago when she was a young, shy, and lost little girl. She struggled to figure out who she was, how to be comfortable in her own skin and understand who she wanted to be.
To fit in somewhere, she joined the football team where she decided to cut her hair short so she wasn’t targeted or treated differently. That was the last thing Aurora wanted. She didn’t hang out with girls because she felt judged and misunderstood, and because football, it made it easier to be friends with her boy teammates. But she still felt empty and confused. She was struggling with the anger of not fitting everyone’s standards and being shamed for looking different.
As she started coming to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Mason Valley more and more, Aurora began to build friendships with her peers and was always interested in helping anyone who needed it. She was always there to set up and clean up programs, be a kitchen aide, help at the front desk, and help any staff that needed an extra hand. That soon worked out greatly in her favor when she transitioned to The Club Teen Center.
Over at the teen center, Aurora was still battling her fight of not knowing who she was, but her leadership and confidence started to bloom greatly with the responsibilities she had been given. She made connections with staff members who taught her that being unapologetically herself is the best thing she ever be and that she should never hide any part of herself to mold someone else’s standard.
Aurora has shown her love and dedication to the Club so well that she has been given jobs as a Junior Staff, at the Yerington Movie House and The Attic and is currently Vice President of the Keystone Club after stepping down from the President spot due to being a student-athlete. She understands how important it is to be a mentor and a role model and takes it very seriously. She wants her peers and younger Boys & Girls Club members to understand and realize how much the Club can better your life when you take advantage of all it has to offer. Being our Youth of the Year representative means so much to her.
“It is a way I can give back to my community and especially to my Boys & Girls Club,” Aurora said. “It makes me happy knowing that I have so many people rooting for me in everything I do. I wouldn’t be where I am today without the Club.”