What inspires you?

Last Friday, I had the honor of attending the MOSTe (Motivating Our Students Through Experience) 12th Annual Lanterns Award Luncheon at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel.  The mission of MOSTe is to empower girls from under served areas of Los Angeles County to become the next generation of college educated women, preparing them for professional careers & positions of leadership within their communities.  Girls participating in the program attend area middle and high schools, including Wilson Middle School and Pasadena High School in the Pasadena Unified School District.

I was inspired to attend from an invitation from my friend Renee Cartaya, an extraordinary MOSTe mentor and leader.  Renee currently mentors two young women and I was curious to learn more about the fabulous organization, meet her girls, and gain a better understanding of what inspires her.  

The luncheon has been designed as a fundraising event honoring women role models and I was inspired by one of the honorees Dr. Kathy Magliato.

Here are Kathy's words of wisdom to the girls attending the luncheon:

Failure - Do not quit.  Be persistent.  Let failure motivate you.
Roots & Wings - Give your children roots - teaching them kindness, empowerment, care.  Give your children wings - encourage them giving them big beautiful wings to fly. What would you do if you knew you could not fail? 
Drink from the hose - Devour information, embrace it, go out and get overwhelmed and learn at an accelerated pace.
Dwell in the house of YES!  - Find people who will say yes to your ideas and to you.  Find others that will support you.
Motivation - Time is a precious gift.  Your life is measured in breaths so spend your time wisely.

It was an honor to have the opportunity to attend the luncheon. MOSTe is doing important work in our community with our young women and their reach goes farther than they know. If you are involved with a local non-profit working with our youth, please share your experience.  It may inspire one of our readers...and that would be a good thing.

Cynthia