February 20, 2020 | No Comments
Over the years I have had the great fortune of meeting so many amazing boys and girls from all over the South Shore and beyond. Many of the students of Fearless Focus stay with the program year after year and eventually become assistant instructors and instructors of the program. It’s inspiring to witness their transformations from shy, uncertain children to confident, self-assured leaders and role models. Katelyn DiFabio is a perfect example of this and we are so proud of her!
Katelyn, like many of our former students, chose to write her college essay on her transformative experience at Fearless Focus and it’s entitled “The Mirror at Fearless Focus”. It’s a powerful and beautifully written essay that perfectly captures the essence of the program. Katelyn is half way through her freshman year at Bryant University and continues to impress us with her hard work, determination, maturity and insight. We are so happy that she is forging her own path but sad because we miss her presence here at Fearless Focus.
Please enjoy this wonderful essay!
Do I scare you? I scare most people. Katelyn watches it happen everyday, something about girls seeing their own reflection strikes a fear inside them. Let me rewind… Katelyn walked through the shiny white door that lies across from me on a partly sunny, brisk Wednesday. She looked like most of the girls I see everyday. Her arms were held across her body too tight, like she was holding on for dear life and her shoulders were pulled forward. She was wearing a flower printed dress that included pops of pastel colors with grey converse, one of her signature looks. All I knew was “that girl is shy and nervous”. I watched her as she saw three other girls sitting against the wall she was headed towards. Her eyes light up a bit, “she knows them”, I let out a sigh of relief for her, or so I thought. To my astonishment she still sat three chairs down from them and kept her lips pressed closely together. This was new to me because it is rare that people know each other at Fearless Focus. In front of me is a runway. This is normally the part that has girls back up and say “no way”, but I watched as Katelyn stepped up and carefully positioned her feet the way she was told, in a T position. She smiled and walked gracefully. I could tell she was hiding her nerves behind her smile, but I was glad she got up on the runway. I watch the runway give girls more and more confidence in each walk. That first walk demonstrated to me that she had potential and it must have impressed Maria too.
Flash forward four years, Katelyn teaches girls the same way Maria did on Katelyn’s first day. Katelyn now stares me down as she closes that white shinny door. Today she wears a black top with a medium washed pair of jeans. On top she layers a pastel pink blazer and a dangling necklace. She completes the look with a pair of floral print pumps with gold heels, a very “her” look. Now I know what you’re thinking, “what about the converse?” Well do not worry; she saves those for when she does not need the extra few inches the heels provide. No one likes to look up to their students! My favorite part is when I see her greet the young girls. Her face lights up as she gears a fun conversation towards the age group she is with. A common topic is Katelyn asking the girls about their day, especially with the older girls who are leaping for someone to talk to who does not know who they are talking about. Katelyn loves to lend her own advice having gone through many things they are, or giving them advice that her instructor once gave her. These conversations are great icebreakers and really make the girls comfortable. I will see her laughing along side the girls. Later, I will see her teaching the girls all about the lesson they are on whether it be social media guidelines, skincare, or how to deal with friend drama. On the runway, Katelyn makes sure to give the students the fun environment that gave her the courage to step up on the runway for the first time. She even gives them a laugh when here heel gets stuck in the seam of the runway and she can not help but smile herself! I have watched Katelyn transform from a young shy girl to a professional confident young lady all in front of my eyes. I even have to deal with her when she sprays chemicals at me and rubs it all into my eyes at the end of the night to get fingerprints off me, but I forgive her when she greets me again with her bright smile!
-The Mirror at Fearless Focus.
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