Soraia Hazard named club’s ‘Youth of the Year’
Boys & Girls Club of Pawtucket honors teen for leadership
LINCOLN – When Soraia Hazard first started going to the Boys & Girls Club of Pawtucket, she was a shy, insecure sixyear-old who was unsure of how to express herself.
Despite being always opinionated, she was never quite the person that would speak up to an adult or a teacher to say she doesn’t like something or offer a suggestion of how to fix a problem.
Time has a funny way of changing things, because after more than 10 years of attending classes and programs at the Pawtucket Club, Hazard now finds herself unafraid to speak up, offer an opinion, and express exactly how she feels.
“At the Boys & Girls Club, they taught me how to state my problems and say them in the right way,” she said.
Hazard, a 16-year-old junior at William M. Davies, Jr. Career and Technical High School, was recently named the Club’s 2019 Youth of the Year. What made that all the sweeter for Hazard was that she won one year after finishing as a finalist in the 2018 competition.
Since enrolling as a young girl, Hazard has participated in a number of organizations within the Club itself. She’s been a member of the Keystone Club – a community group that helps to develop programming – for three years, the last two years as president. Before that, she was president of Torch Club, essentially a Keystone Club but for the Boys & Girls Club’s younger members.
Hazard also participates in Smart Girls, a group that helps to empower the young women at the Club. In that program, the girls talk about self-esteem, healthy habits, personal hygiene, and being able to balance life’s stresses and challenges. She’s also employed in the Club’s junior staff program, which helps in the kitchen and with pre-teens.
“I’ve always liked to be able to set a good example … It feels good. Not a lot of girls have that person they’re able to look up to. Being able to help somebody who doesn’t have someone to help them feels great,” Hazard said. She counted her mother and Club staff member Monique Fernandes as valuable role models in her life.
James Hoyt, the chief executive officer of the Boys & Girls Club of Pawtucket, entered the letter of recommendation for Hazard, saying she’s always been admired in the eyes of her peers.
“If they could just take one or two of her qualities and own those, they’d be better off,” Hoyt said. “She’s just a good kid. She’s got a great head on her shoulders, she’s had to take responsibility in her family life at a young age for her siblings and she’s always been a really dynamic leader.”
Hazard was honored as the Club’s Youth of the Year during the annual dinner and celebration at the Alfred Elson, Jr. Clubhouse on March 5. She said she was “shocked” when it was revealed that she was to be feted as the award winner, saying she nearly spit out the water she was drinking when her name was announced.
“It was shocking and good at the same time,” Hazard recalled. “I was kind of overwhelmed, I was so happy I won and so excited that I was able to really get to meet new people while I was running for Youth of the Year … I was shocked. I was drinking my water, I stopped and said ‘Me?!’ I was crying.”
On April 9 at the Rhode Island Convention Center, Hazard will compete against five candidates from other Boys & Girls Clubs in Rhode Island in the statewide Youth of the Year competition. The winner of the statewide contest receives a $5,000 scholarship.
The local candidates complete extensive application packets which include school transcripts, recommendations, and essays about their Club experience, vision for America’s youth, and personal brand.
Hazard aspires to attend Howard University in Washington, D.C. and wants to study dermatology. She’s visiting the campus this summer, saying the college has a “great medical program.”
When asked what words of advice she’d have for those teens and young adults aspiring to be like her, Hazard said: “Nothing’s ever too little to speak up and make sure that your voice is heard, just to go for it. There’s always a chance you’ll succeed.”
Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s Youth of the Year recognition is the highest honor a Club member can achieve. Since its inception in 1947, the Youth of the Year program celebrates the extraordinary achievements of teenagers, Club officials said. Members who earn the Youth of the Year title “embody the values of leadership and service, academic excellence, and healthy lifestyles. They exemplify the critical impact that Boys & Girls Clubs have on young people,” officials said.