Kameron Powell is a young person with his eyes on the future. As Kameron prepared to graduate and move forward, he took care to interrogate and inventory himself, to really meditate on what ideas, perceptions and ways of being serve him. Kameron examined his ideas about himself and the world and so he considered what he should bring with him as he charts new paths, and also what is best to leave behind, only to be looked at through the rear view mirror. My life, Kameron tells us, is ”starting to be what I wanted it to be in the first place. I am starting to let everything from the past go and move forward and actually be me with the feeling of constant judgment from people whose opinions don’t matter or have no right in my life.”

Developing a strong, loving sense of self that can bring us light on even our darkest days is a life-long journey for most of us. And walking that path of knowing yourself and loving yourself is perhaps nowhere more precipitous then as a young person navigating middle school. Kameron shares, “In middle school, I was bullied for the smallest thing about me. Then high school rolled around and I started to let that stuff go and develop a mentality that I live my way. Now, I’m able to walk, talk and live like me.” Middle school for most of us was an experience that we cannot fully explore here as this is a family page and the language required to capture that time is not, to say the least, kid friendly. But here we all are, out on the other side, like Kameron, and ready to keep only that which lifts us up.

As he settled into himself, Kameron’s roots grew stronger and then, some real blooming could take place. As he moved forward, Kameron learned how to cultivate joy. He made and found joy in friendships: “11th grade was my fondest memory because I was happy, made friends and genuinely had no gripes whatsoever, all I did was make friends.” And Kameron learned to cultivate joy in himself and a sense of style: “I’m [into] my wardrobe right now because I’m starting to develop my individuality in my clothing.” And lastly, Kameron learned to make his way to joy persistently over time. Kameron worked through a pandemic fractured senior year, getting by with Netflix, game playing and a return to creativity through art, to apply and ultimately be accepted into his college of choice, Old Dominion University. We wish Kameron all the bloom as he moves on. May Kameron continue to help build the friendships and experiences that bring him joy and then to let that joy reverberate into the wide world.