2019-20 National Military Youth of the Year
Club/Organization: NSA Norfolk Naval Shipyard Youth Center
Intended College/University: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Career Goal: Orthopedic Surgeon
“The best way to lead and teach people is to live, lead and love by example. My Youth Center taught me to be a leader who loves beyond gender, ethnicity and demographics to bring out the best in every person I connect with.”
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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.