Alexia Michitti knows about hard work, and overcoming obstacles. Born without her right hand, she learned at an early age to set goals for herself and persevere, despite the challenges she inevitably encountered. One of her first goals was to play a musical instrument in fourth grade, and she accomplished that goal at Vestal Hills, her elementary school.
On September 23, she talked to current students there about her program, Embrace, and she told them about being born without her hand...
"But that's okay," said Alexia to Vestal Hills students in a school-wide assembly. "It's important to accept people for who they are."
Using the analogy of a watermelon seed, she talked about setting, nurturing, and persevering until your goals are accomplished. A soccer player in high school, Alexia also loved to "juggle" the soccer ball and eventually learned how to do a multitude of other tricks. As she reminded the students throughout her presentation, it took a lot of hard work and determination. Those, she explained, were like sunlight and rain to a watermelon seed. It helps it grow into a watermelon.
Once their goals are achieved, though she asked the students not to stop there. "Like a watermelon, when you reach your goal, share it with other people," she said. "Maybe one of your friends wants to learn to do what you did and needs help."
She also talked to students about the support they have all around them. Bringing all the teachers and other staff who knew her when she was a Vestal Hills student up to the front of the gym to stand behind her, she told the students that people around you, like teachers, family, and friends, want to help you reach your goals. They're there for you and have your back.
Wrapping up, she gave a demonstration of some of her soccer juggling skills, and then had a couple of students and a teacher come up to learn how to do a soccer trick. Many thanks to Harper, Declan and Mr. Greenman for being wonderfully good sports!
Also a Girl Scout Gold awardee, Alexia hopes that younger students learn to embrace the process of setting a goal. She hopes they take away the realization that the end target of reaching a goal does not happen overnight, but includes growth as a person, as well as skills such as hard work and determination. Alexia’s second goal is to help the children understand that embracing challenges and accepting obstacles they encounter along the way is part of the process.
The initial seed for her Embrace program was planted when Alexia created videos on character education for Vestal Hills Elementary as part of her Girl Scout Gold project. Now, she has developed the rest of the program, and this presentation at Vestal Hills Elementary on September 23 was the public debut.