LearnServe Alumna Yasmine Arrington Selected for the Peace First Prize
“When I say ‘Peace,’ You say “Games,’” echoed as a refrain through my college experience.
I was initially drawn to the way Eric Dawson – founder of Peace Games, now Peace First – understood the problem he saw in Boston, and across the country. Society looks at young people as victims of violence, perpetrators of violence, and witnesses to violence. Why don’t we look to young people as peace-makers and problem-solvers?
Eric’s question is so obvious, yet so powerful. It has stuck with me, through those afternoons inspiring sixth and seventh grade students in Boston’s Jamaica Plain neighborhood – my first real taste of teaching. And it has guided each conversation I’ve had with our LearnServe Fellows over the past 8 years.
I believe in the power of young people to create change. Today’s middle, high school, and college students are not simply vessels for knowledge and candidates for future impact. They are leaders today.
Few students I’ve worked with embody this better than Yasmine Arrington. I first met Yasmine in September 2009 when she joined a cohort of peers from across the DC area as a LearnServe Fellow. Yasmine stood out from the start. She has a contagious smile, polite laugh, and is always alert, ready to dive into any conversation with a thoughtful question or comment.
When we asked what issues made her mad, she didn’t miss a beat. She shared how her mom passed away when she was little, and how her dad has been in prison most of the time that she’s been alive. At that point in time she had had little relationship with him, beyond the occasional phone call. She has been blessed with a supportive and engaged grandmother, yet continues to face the obstacles that come with being the child of an incarcerated parent.
If Yasmine had chosen to walk the path of disaffection – to feel the world owes her something – you might understand. But Yasmine’s outlook is just the opposite. She has taken her story, her life, and translated it into an inspiration to help others succeed.
Yasmine quickly honed in on her social venture idea: ScholarCHIPS. Well before she submitted her first college application, wrote her first scholarship essay, or set foot on campus she was already acutely aware of the challenges others in her demographic faced. Attending college was by no means a given for many children of incarcerated parents. Might financial support, mentorship, and a network of peers help to break the cycle of incarceration?
Fast forward six years. Under Yasmine’s leadership, ScholarCHIPS is a thriving non-profit organization that has already raised well over $75,000 and has awarded 23 college scholarships to children of incarcerated parents. I am honored to serve on her growing Board of Directors, and excited by her ambition to strengthen the networks of support she is able to offer each scholar, grow the pool of students she supports, and play an active role in a national conversation around children of incarcerated parents.
Yasmine has not chosen to sit back and wait for someone else to solve this problem. She is not willing to simply watch as her peers struggle with the challenge of a close family member in prison. Instead, Yasmine has chosen the route of mentor, visionary, leader, and role model. She sets a compelling example for other young people of what it looks like to be a peace-maker and problem-solver.
It is therefore with great pride – for Yasmine, for ScholarCHIPS, and for the young people she inspires – that we share that Yasmine Arrington has been selected recipient of the 2015 Peace First Prize.
The Peace First Prize is a national award recognizing youth peacemakers, ages 8-22, who are leaders focused on making lasting social change in their communities by connecting across lines of difference with compassion, standing up for others and ideals with courage, and creating collaborative change by leading with others. The winners will receive a 2-year, $25,000 Fellowship to further their peacemaking work. Yasmine is one of five young people, ages 10-22, from across the country to be awarded the 2015 Peace First Prize.
Congratulations, Yasmine. And congratulations Peace First for raising the profile of our emerging change-makers and peace-makers.
For More Information:
Peace First | www.peacefirst.org
ScholarCHIPS | www.scholarchipsfund.com