Brianna intends to become a social worker, and to spend her career offering what she most needed throughout her childhood and found at her Boys & Girls Club – guidance. Enduring physical effects of drug addiction that have impacted her health since birth, as well as watching her family struggle with addiction and difficult life choices, Brianna has seen firsthand the difference guidance can make. She says, “Everybody has the ability to make the right decision, but sometimes they need a positive influence to guide them in the right direction.”

At the Club, she found her positive influence in Club staff, especially her teen director. From elementary to high school, Brianna has spent her after-school time involved in Club programming, from her early days earning robotics awards to joining the Keystone teen leadership program. She calls volunteering second nature – “as Club members, we are all expected to understand the meaning and the impact it brings to our community” – and credits her experience at the Club with helping her to open up and communicate with her peers.

It’s these open lines of communication that have inspired her to pursue social work and become a support system for others.