By: Emilee Schevers & Will Honcharuk
CNIB National Youth Council Members
The twists and turns of life are not always easy to navigate. Mentors and role models are a great tool to help guide us through tough situations and meet our goals. With that in mind, we asked some of our mentors at CNIB what advice they would give to their younger selves. Here’s what they had to say:
“Be patient and be kind to yourself. Remember that you usually have to be bad at something before you can get good at it. Take a deep breath, focus on what you can do, and give it your best shot. You probably know more than you think you do. And not everything has to be 100%...this is usually an unrealistic goal. Shoot for the stars but give yourself that space to learn, grow, and aspire. You’re young, and you have time to explore and experiment. Go for it! You’ll get things wrong, but you’ve got lots of time to make corrections and hopefully find what makes you happiest.” -Sherri Helsdingen, Manager, Community Engagement, CNIB Lake Joe.
“When life is trying to teach you a challenging lesson, remember to be kind to yourself. You have the power to redefine what success means to you.” -Danica Frappier, CNIB National Youth Council Member.
“There are three seasons to life: choice, chance, and change. You must make a choice to take the chance to evoke the change you want. If I knew this when I was younger, I would have plotted a different course and made use of it from the very beginning to be a great leader.” -Ryan Hooey, Program Lead, Come to Work.
“Many times, over the course of my 23 years on this planet, I have considered my younger self and what I would have done differently. The biggest thing that comes to mind when I enter these internal reflections is how badly I wish I knew not to care about what other people think of my physical appearance. When I was a teenager, and even now, I struggled with making decisions surrounding my own appearance because of what other people might think of me. I wish that I knew that how I appear is not for anyone else except for me.” -Taylor Gaudon, Virtual Program Facilitator: CNIB Lake Joseph Center
What would you want your younger self to know? What would your future self say to you now?