Guest blog from Cheyenne, Head Start graduate
Today’s blog is a guest post from Cheyenne, a graduate of Ozark Action, Inc’s Head Start program. Fourteen of our 19 Community Action Agencies manage Head Start Programs, which promotes school readiness for children and self-sufficiency for families. Read on to learn how Head Start impacted Cheyenne’s life:
Cheyenne after speaking at the 2016 Community Action Advocacy Day.
My name is Cheyenne and I am currently a student at the University of Missouri in Columbia, or Mizzou, studying Psychology Pre-med and minoring in Linguistics. I went to Head Start, which in my community is ran by Ozark Action, Inc, when I was four years old. I gained many things from my experiences there such as independence, curiosity, dreams and fairness. All of these things continue to shape me and the decisions I make. I don’t think I would be where I am today if I didn’t go to Head Start.
1. Independence – When I started Head Start, I was solely reliant on my family to be my entire support system and I had no friends outside of them. Head Start made me be more self-reliant so I learned how to be more independent. I had to make my own friends and I could make some of my own decisions as my teachers couldn’t be there every second to help me.
2. Curiosity – I had always been a bit curious as a child but Head Start gave me somewhere to satiate that curiosity and the methods to do so while also sparking that curiosity onto new topics. They gave me letters and so gave me books.
3. Dreams – I always had dreams but they gave me more realistic ones. It was in Head Start that I first decided that I wanted to be a doctor and because of that I am now studying to be a psychiatrist.
4. Fairness – I learned what being fair meant and so I began to fight for it. I learned that everyone deserves a fair chance which is another reason why I want to be a psychiatrist: to give everyone a fighting chance for a normal life.
A big thank you to Cheyenne for sharing her story with us. Her story is just one of many that illustrate Head Start and early childhood education’s impact on lives. Community Action is dedicated to ensuring all Missouri children have a chance to succeed, like Cheyenne. Subscribe to our blog on the right to read more Community Action stories!