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Guest columnist Jayla VanHorn went from seeing the majority of her friends and mentors at the Broadway
Boys & Girls Club five to six days out of the week to not at all. Photo by David Liam Kyle
Cleveland Plain Dealer
I am a graduating senior, and this is what I miss the most
Jayla VanHorn
Posted Apr 12, 2020
This was supposed to be one of the best years of our lives.
Instead, it has become -- for me, my fellow high school seniors and the
rest of the world -- the year of “not knowing.” Among my friends, there
is uncertainty over whether we’ll ever go back to school, whether we’ll
ever see each other again, if we’ll have a prom or if we will even get
to graduate as a class.
Of course, these are relatively small worries in light of this scary
coronavirus health crisis. Still, they are very real to us. People talk
about the fears during 9/11. I wasn’t born yet. Nothing like this has
ever happened to me.
My generation gets a lot of criticism for being too plugged in to
technology and not talking to people face to face. I know I do this.
But since the coronavirus appeared, the thing I personally feel like
I’m missing most is the connection to all the people at the Broadway
Boys & Girls Club. I went from seeing the majority of these people
-- my friends and mentors – five to six days out of the week to not at
all.
I’m used to always being active. At the Club, I’m busy working as a
junior staff member and on the athletics staff. Lately, I find myself
sitting in the house trying to find more ways than ever to be active.
The Club is where I go to have fun and enjoy being a teenager. Not
being able to go there at this moment has put me in a weird setting,
something I’ve never experienced.
If the Club were to remain closed for an indefinite period of time, it
would be upsetting. That is where I and many other children spend the
majority of our time. It's a place where kids find a safe environment
and receive a meal.
Not having a Club would also affect me and a lot of others who work
there financially. Without any income, bills can’t be paid, food can’t
be bought and rent can’t be paid.
There is a good reason why the Club is so important to me.
For years, I could never understand how a kid my age could live in an
environment filled with constant violence and physical abuse without
anyone noticing. I could not process what was happening to me. I always
loved school, but there came a point where I dreaded going for fear of
being taunted because of my clothing or why, at age 10, I had a dark
bruise surrounding my eye.
I didn’t talk about it. But my resentment grew.
The people at the Club were the only ones to notice this anger. I
didn't know that this place would become my permanent home, a place
where I regained my trust and developed long-lasting relationships.
It is a place where I can share my darkest secrets, have kids my age to relate to and to once again “enjoy being a kid.”
The Club is where I found my passion for writing. I became news
writer/editor for the Club newspaper. I’ve had some great shadowing
experiences because of the Club.
The Club has given me the opportunity to let younger kids know that
asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness. And that the
experiences that have shaped who you are today don’t define the person
you can become in the future.
So as we practice social distancing to avoid the spread of this virus,
I am hoping to one day soon be getting together with the people who
helped me turn my life around. Because that is what I miss the most.
Guest columnist Jayla VanHorn, a senior at Horizon Science Academy, is
Boys & Girls Clubs of Cleveland’s 2020 Youth of the Year. In the
fall, she plans to attend Ohio University, where she will study mass
communications and psychology.
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