Kyah loves to learn. She's a reader, a writer, an artist, the kid who wants to get as far ahead as she can. Sixth grade made that hard. Her classroom was loud and chaotic, and she became a target. Comments about how she looked. Her things tossed across the room.
"Looking back on it, I was in good shape and a good size. But it didn't make me feel like it."
That summer, her mom signed her up for ZGiRLS. The girls in her group hyped each other up. And the women who came to speak said something she didn't expect: they don't always feel good about themselves either.
"We can't always stop people from treating us a certain way. But we can train ourselves to think a certain way, so it doesn't take so much of a toll on us."
She'd heard about the Power of Yet in school, and it never landed. At ZGiRLS, it felt real. "I can't do it yet, but I can eventually."
Kyah was born with a club foot, and things like stamina and coordination took her longer. She practiced skipping for a long time. In seventh grade, with her cousin cheering her on, she finally did it. Then she kept going. Long walks. Yoga. Running a little.
It didn't all click at once, either. After her first summer, some of it faded, so she came back for fall and winter. That's when it stuck.
Today, Kyah is on ZGiRLS' Youth Advisory Board. When things get hard, she takes a breath and repeats the words her mom taught her until she believes them. And she knows what she wants to do with her life: help other women.
"Who you are when you're 13, 14, I think it defines you more than people would think."
The ZGiRLS tool she reached for: The Power of Yet.
From Kyah, to you:
"If you have a better mindset and you believe that you can, you can. I think that all girls should have access to that."