SoulSparkU

SoulSparkU is a one-year personal-growth programme focused on empowering young girls. Once a month for a year, Danielle explored her own strengths, what she wanted to improve, and how to grow — sharing her thoughts and presenting in front of others each session to build confidence and leadership.

My strengths

The 3 strengths I realized I had were confidence, love of learning, and being positive. For being confident, it was when we had our 1st presentation to our Parents. Turns out, I could just talk to the audience with ease if I thought of it as talking to friends! For love of learning, I figured that if I like something, I do it better. So I try to like learning. And lastly, Positivity. When I used to not go to SoulSparkU, I was always worrying about everything, but when I try to be positive, I know everything's gonna be alright!

Learning bravery

When I started SoulSparkU, I was really lacking Bravery. But through homework, I did some research, and learned one of the most important Quotes of my life:

Bravery doesn't mean being fearless, but to overcome the fear.

So on my first Show & Tell presentation, I tried. I stayed calm, and went through my presentation smoothly. Even if I was nervous, and it didn't go the way I planned, it was still good. And I knew I would do better next time.

Speaking in front of people

The scariest/hardest thing about speaking in front of people was… Making mistakes. I would always be trying to make everything perfect, so for me, it was a scary thing to make mistakes or mess up. This always happened, and got in the way of succeeding. I had to find a solution! So I know now, the audience is here to hear you, mistakes or not. Now, I do good. It's easier to know that they will always be there to support you.

A problem I had

The problem I had during the program was time management. I had limited time and couldn't finish my project in it. So I ended up working on my project at home. I learned that if I focus and try my best, I will succeed. So next time I will not keep delaying what I have to do, but instead finishing my work first, then doing something else.

What I believe now

The one thing I believe about myself now that I didn't before the program was confidence. During the musical process (as a 4th grader), I learned A LOT of things, but I think the most important thing is CONFIDENCE. My thinking about the musical before was just, “what if we can't memorize all our lines!” and, “we might make mistakes” but now, it's, “that was amazing, it went perfect!” and, “such a great experience”. So I know now to be confident — unless you know that something is going to go wrong.

My Dream Board

My favorite part of the WHOLE program was making the Dream/Vision board. It was fun, and I got to know more about myself. It contained my ultimate goals (graduating, having a good job), Places I want to go (Russia, China, Patagonia) and things I want to practice (crocheting, rollerblading, speaking out). I asked myself real questions and, as a capital N and J (MBTI), I set some goals for my future.

Now I can share my ideas freely, without worrying that my ideas will be wrong.