The Elements of Betties: Meet "G"

G is fire. G is the most passionate, the most fierce, the most (outwardly) confident young woman I have ever worked with. G is a natural leader. G will stick by you and defend you, so long as you’re a true friend who won’t talk behind her back.

G knows who her true friends are.

G is also one of the most headstrong, most frustrating young woman I have ever worked with.

She sends you on an emotional roller coaster. You want to protect her and shield her from the struggles she faces constantly, you want to tell her it’s ok to still be a child.

You also realize that she is already grown up in so many ways. She had to grow up early to learn how to defend herself. She has far surpassed your capabilities of understanding the world and how it works when you were her age.

G is smart. When she does well in school she does really well. You think G could go to college if she really wanted to; you’re worried she might not.

That’s not what’s modeled for her at home.

G can bring a group together and tear a group apart. She knows how to guide her fellow classmates to focus and respect the person in charge. She also knows she has the power to turn them away from you. She can create order and chaos.

You want G on your side if you’re going to get anything done.

G climbs to the top of the rock wall up the hardest path, learns skateboard tricks with ease, and can pick up any dance routine.

G is a Betty. She does whatever she sets her mind to, she is not scared to try new things, and she is a deeply caring friend. She’s working hard to overcome the challenges life has presented her, sometimes she slips and reacts in a way that is easy for her, but other moments she shines and sparkles, and lets the world know that she means business.

G is fire.

By Hannah Nolan, Program Coordinator and After-School Instructor for Betties360