1 Year +

About 1 year ago I met Daylajane at my first YMC bowling event through my company, Shout Factory. It’s easy for me to say, we clicked instantly. I’ll admit I was nervous, feeling much like a kid myself at 22, but if she was nervous, she never showed it. We paired up from the start and rented our bowling shoes, joking about how large my feet are and how bowling shoes only accentuate this (they are and they do). I found listening and talking to her easy. Not your average 16 year old, Daylajane was mature beyond my expectations. She was very forthcoming and I found our personalities to be similar, making it easier in the beginning to form a connection based on the things in life that we both value; honesty, communication, trust, and personal relationships.    

Now, a year later, when I look at these two pictures of us, the first on our match day and the second taken recently at a group session, I see four different people. The two kids who started this adventure in YMC and the two adults who are now really ready to own it.  (I also realized that we both change our hairstyles a lot.) Just over a year later, I am now 24 and Daylajane is just weeks away from turning 18, going to her senior prom and graduating high school. I can hardly contain my excitement for this coming year with Daylajane. She has so much ahead of her in the next few months and I am so excited to share some of her journey with her. My final semester of high school was HUGE – scary, exciting and so much to take in - and graduation day being one of the best days of my life and I wish the same for her. I never could have imagined Daylajane in my life at that time, but now, I can't imagine it without her.  Sounds cliché? Sure, but it's true.

Thank you Daylajane, YMC and Shout! Factory for an enriching and wonderful year (and many more) of mentoring.

-Samantha Pennacchio
YMC Mentor & Leadership Board Member