蜜柚直播

Adriana Noriega was sitting in her Western civilizations class listening to a guest presenter discuss volunteering when everything changed.

Before that presentation her freshman year of high school, she鈥檇 never given much thought to serving her community. Hearing about issues in Pima County, and specifically the county鈥檚 Teen Court program, sparked a realization.

鈥淚t never snapped in my mind that I have the ability to help someone鈥檚 life and contribute to society, so I started volunteering then,鈥� said Adriana, 16.

Now a junior at Cholla High Magnet School, Adriana takes as many opportunities to volunteer as she can. She鈥檚 passionate about substance-abuse prevention, education and helping refugees in 蜜柚直播.

鈥淲hen I see people who are giving as much as they can because they want to help, that helps me want to do the same thing, maybe not with all of my money, because I don鈥檛 have any, but with my time,鈥� she said. 鈥淭ime is one of the most valuable things you have, and it鈥檚 also one of the most valuable things you can give, so I want to give my time and invest in people鈥檚 lives.鈥�

And time is precious to Adriana. In the midst of volunteering, she also juggles student council, the Arabic and National honor societies and all of the rigor that accompanies an International Baccalaureate program. She doesn鈥檛 just care about her own education. She鈥檚 also part of the Metropolitan Education Commission鈥檚 Youth Advisory Council/蜜柚直播 Teen Congress, representing her peers in discussions on education policy and quality in Pima County.

She dreams of making policies some day.

鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 aware of the issues,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 was so close-minded and didn鈥檛 see the bigger picture. I was just focusing on my school and I wanted to get good grades, and I never realized how much of an impact I could have.鈥�

What she does

Adriana started volunteering with Pima County Teen Court, a diversion program for minors, after that freshman year presentation.

The program allows minors who take responsibility for their offenses to let a jury of their peers determine their sentences. This alternative to a criminal conviction focuses on constructive sentences and service learning. Teens volunteer as members of the jury, attorneys, clerks and bailiffs.

Adriana, who volunteers as a teen attorney and vice president of the Teen Court Bar Association, had noticed many of the teens coming through the program had some involvement with substance abuse. 鈥淚 saw how substance abuse affected them,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t practically destroys lives.鈥�

That realization drove her to apply to the Governor鈥檚 Youth Commission, where she is one of two teens from Pima County. There, and through organizations on campus and in the community, she advocates for greater awareness among teens about the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse.

Her openness to new ways of volunteering also led her to bake sales organized by Syrian refugee women last winter. Her high school Arabic teacher, Nour Jandali, invited her to help translate.

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鈥淲hen I was getting ready to leave (the bake sale), she was in the room where all of the volunteers met, taking the stage to explain how we can do new events better,鈥� Jandali said .

Again, Adriana found her eyes opened.

鈥淲hen I was speaking with the Syrian refugees, it was very surreal,鈥� Adriana said. 鈥淚鈥檝e heard about it before, all the problems they鈥檙e going through ... and being able to speak to someone who has been going through this their whole life really made me want to give back more.鈥�

She was already interested in the Middle East because of an older sister who took Arabic in high school. Biblical references in church to Middle Eastern locales also piqued her interest.

Before the bake sales, Adriana had applied for the YALLAH Commit to Action program organized by the Qatar Foundation International, an organization that awarded the 蜜柚直播 Unified School District grant money to expand Arabic programs to other schools.

As part of the Commit to Action program, she developed a project to support the education of Syrian refugee children. In 蜜柚直播, she collected school supplies and more than $300 to purchase education necessities. She donated all of it to the local resettlement agency Refugee Focus.

Because of that project, she was selected to attend the National Youth Leadership Council鈥檚 Dare to Dream service-learning conference in California in March and another leadership conference in Qatar .

Why it matters

For Adriana, it鈥檚 about taking what she has and sharing it with others.

鈥淏eing so privileged, I kind of think of it as 鈥榃hy not?鈥欌�� she said. 鈥淎fter I started volunteering and looking at the bigger picture, I saw that I can have an impact on someone鈥檚 life. I can make a change, and it starts with one person.鈥�

Jandali said Adriana also encourages her peers to volunteer.

鈥淪he is one of those kids who will take a risk and be in front and take that job and complete it until it is done well,鈥� Jandali said.

Encouraging peers

鈥淛ust do it,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here is going to be something eventually that you鈥檙e going to be passionate about. ... For me, I didn鈥檛 even know I was passionate about substance-abuse prevention until I realized there were people going through bad things. When you see problems like that and are genuinely interested in wanting to help, you should just take the opportunity.

鈥淭here is no age to start giving back to the community. You can start doing that at 6 years old if you want. There are always ways to give back to the community.鈥�