We absolutely love hearing from our incredible Everly Mag Ambassadors, and in the upcoming weeks we’ll be presenting inspirational guest posts by our ambassadors themselves!

Related: Real Teens Talk: Role Models

Our ambassadors worked hard to answer the following questions:

• What’s your passion and why?
• What’s a challenge you’ve overcome?
• Write a letter to your role model.

What’s your Passion?

Ava, 13:

One of the things I’m passionate about is helping others.  I’m happy when I help others in need.  That’s why I joined Everly Mag.  I want to help girls like me – help them with insecurities and bullying.  One day, when I become an adult, I would love to donate to charities.  I will grow my hair long to donate hair to those who have cancer.  My great-grandmother inspired me to help others.  Being helpful is great.  I always try to help others, even though I’m still young.  It makes me smile when I see people smile at me because I helped them.

Brittney, 15:

Right now, the thing I’m most passionate about would be dance or YouTube.  First off, someone might be wondering: What do you mean you are passionate about YouTube?  What do you do?  I am passionate about YouTube because I love sharing what I enjoy with others.  It really helps me when I am stressed as well, because I can just let the camera roll and talk about anything I want.  Usually I end up talking about really random things…or clothes!  I really enjoy sharing my insight on style, makeup, and well-being.  Maybe, with a video or something I upload, I can make someone’s day a little better or just spread positivity throughout the online world.

Shaina, 13: 

I’ve been passionate about music since I can remember.  Something about it gives me freedom.  There are no boundaries to music.  I love writing original songs, putting all my thoughts and emotions onto a piece of paper, and making it into music for myself and others to enjoy.  Also, playing the piano makes me feel good.  The sound of it soothes me and the feeling of playing just puts a smile on my face.  I’ve always dreamt of selling out a huge venue, perform for thousands, release singles, albums. Go on world tours. But as I’m only young, I’m starting small for now. But I know one day, I’ll reach my goal. I’ll let my freedom run wild as I travel around the globe.

Music has given me multiple opportunities to really show the world what I’m made of.  I really would love to have a singing career. I look up to singers like Ariana Grande, Adele, Birdy, P!nk, and plenty more.   I’ve visited concerts, plenty of them to imagine what it would be like to not be in the crowd but on that stage. Entertaining, living the dream I’ve dreamt since I was so young. I always sing in my bedroom, I lip-sync to my favorite songs, when I have headphones on, I imagine I’m in my own music video. The feeling of it all, it’s never left. I’ve never dropped the dream. It’s always been in me.

Music isn’t apart of me. It is me.  I’m passionate about music as it’s my freedom.

What’s a challenge you’ve overcome?

Mackenzy, 14:

When I was younger, I suffered from an anxiety disorder.  It was very hard for me to make friends and talk to my family.  It was even hard to leave the house some days.  People started picking on me and being shy.  I cried most nights because I felt there was no hope for me.  I struggled so much with anxiety that it was affecting my schoolwork.  I started pushing people away and started being mean to the people I loved.  I didn’t want to be mean, it was just so hard to control my feelings.  It kept getting worse and worse until I couldn’t handle it anymore.

I went to my mom and talked to her about the feelings I was having.  She reassured me that I was feeling something that many people feel.  I opened up a lot more to my friends and family, and started going to therapy to learn new ways to control my anxiety.  I started trying harder to talk to new people and try new things.  I pushed myself to get out of the house and spend the night at other places.  I started doing things that made me feel calm, like reading, playing music, and drawing.  It was an uphill battle.  After many visits with my wonderful therapist and support from my friends and family, I began to feel much happier and more positive.  I’ll admit, at times it was hard, but I made it.  I have made some great friends throughout the years that have supported me through my struggles.  I have and will always continue to do the things I enjoy doing.

I encourage anyone who is having negative thoughts or just doesn’t feel like themselves to go talk to someone you trust, maybe even a teacher or therapist.  It helps so much to talk to someone, and you will get better.  I encourage each and every one of you to do what you love.  Sometimes you may get discouraged, but you can do anything you set your mind to.  You are very beautiful and extremely important.

Write a letter to your role model.

Renae, 17:

Dear Aja Dang,

Firstly I’d just like to say that you’re beautiful, gorgeous, confident and I absolutely adore you, so getting a chance to write this letter makes my heart sing.

I found your YouTube channel about 8 months ago and I instantly fell in love your personality and overall positivity and a lot of the issues you discussed on your channel really helped me pull through my personal situations. Your body positive video speaking about cellulite and accepting yourself is one of my favorite of yours because you were just so honest about your experience and it helped me take on a new perspective of the way I view my body and I don’t care for my cellulite and stretch marks as much as before. And with this, you’re also so honest about your motivation for health and fitness which fluctuates from time to time which so many people can relate to.

Your budgeting series and anything to do with finances and debt are also my favorites because personally, you’ve helped me revaluate my current situation and started a supportive discussion in the comments and YouTube community about how people can pay their debts and achieve financial goals that they might not have believed they could. I also admire that you’re never afraid to ask for help from your audience which shows how humble and open you are to the people around you.

Aja, you’re a role model to me because I aspire to live by wholly and positively just like you do. All in all, you’ve changed my life in microscopic ways but when added up, I’m a better person for it and I thank you and encourage you to produce more content and interact with your vast audience as you’re such a genuine and loving person.

I look forward to every new video you produce.

Love always,

Renae

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If you liked this article, you might also enjoy:

• Real Teens Talk: Empowerment
• Interview: Actress Emily Skinner
• 3 Common Insecurities Teens Face (and How to Confront Them)

Feature Image Credit: Everly Mag