Each month, youth from Youth Central’s Mayor’s Youth Council select 5-12 youth to be recognized and Kids Up Front plans a monthly one-of-a-kind experience for these youth, called the Pay it Forward Project. So far they’ve had youth attend Free the Children’s We Day and had an on the field experience with the Calgary Stampeders; each month will be something new and exciting. Please meet Natalie Cuei, one of the Pay It Forward recipients!
Natalie said that her parents inspired her to volunteer and the idea of helping others was intriguing. She is a part of Immigrant Services Calgary Youth Volunteer program. As part of a team, she volunteers at multiple organizations, such as The Mustard Seed, Prospect and The Brenda Strafford Centre. She says that her best experience is being able to volunteer with these amazing organizations. They are all about helping out others and seeing people smile while saying thank you to the volunteers is rewarding.
Natalie thinks that as of right now, she would like to become a forensic scientist. That is something she would definitely want to accomplish after finishing the IB curriculum. She says IB has been excruciatingly hard, and has provided many sleep-deprived days, but it’s all worth it in the end. Her father, who works as a law enforcement officer, provides her with information about law enforcement that associates with forensic scientists; that how she came to admire it.
Some of Natalie’s passions are baking, swimming, reading, and playing the flute. She has been playing the flute for four years, and says that it is a great instrument to try out. She has taken swimming lessons in Taiwan, but had to stop when she immigrated to Canada at the age of nine. She doesn’t swim that much any more but goes when she can. Another favourite hobby that she has is reading, ever since she was little. Her parents encouraged reading and took her to the library every weekend to read or take out books, thus reading has become a big part in her daily routine. She has definitely engaged in many things such as volunteering, sports, and music over her life, but she hopes to expand on that over her lifetime!
If you know of an amazing youth like Natalie, Youth Central is accepting nominations for youth who ‘pay it forward’ on an ongoing basis and anyone can nominate.
