Dasia B.

Dasia began attending her BGCA-Affiliated Youth Center when she was six years old. Growing up a military child meant extended family wasn’t close by to help Dasia’s mother when her father deployed. For Dasia, going to the Youth Center felt like visiting family and a place she could express herself without judgement.

Youth Center staff provided Dasia with an environment to develop her leadership skills. She tutored younger members with the Power Hour homework-help program and served as vice president of the BGCA teen leadership program, Keystone Club. At school, Dasia co-founded a multi-cultural program to provide her peers with a space where they can learn about different cultures in their community.

As National Military Youth of the Year, Dasia aspires to create a conference centered around self-love. She is a high school senior and plans to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and become an orthopedic surgeon.