Youth of the Year overcomes tough times to represent Columbus Boys & Girls Clubs
Kamiya Archie, 17, has considered the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Chattahoochee Valley her second family during 10 years as a member. Now, the BGCCV considers Kamiya its Youth of the Year.
As the winner of this award, Kamiya, a junior at Rainey-McCullers School of the Arts, represents the BGCCV’s approximately 2,500 members, ages 6-18.
“It means so much to me because I’ve been working hard to end up in the place I am today,” she told the Ledger-Enquirer.
That place is a sense of confidence, knowing she has the grit to persevere through hardship. She certainly has had her share of practice.
Home destroyed by fire
As one of four children in a single-mother home, Kamiya is grateful for the support she receives from club staff and fellow members.
“The Boys & Girls Club is a safe space for you to be,” she said, “and you can be yourself as well.”
During the summer before her fifth-grade year, Kamiya and her family had to move because a fire destroyed their home. That meant transferring for her last year of elementary school from Dawson to Reese Road, where she struggled to adjust.
Kamiya was bullied because of “the way I act and my size,” she said and for having a reputation as a “goodie two-shoes.”
“When they started calling me names — I was a very, very sensitive child back then — I just started crying because I didn’t know what I was doing wrong,” she said. “Why wouldn’t they be my friends? I just wanted to be like everyone else.”
Her feeling of not fitting in was compounded the following year, when she started attending Rothschild Middle School.
Kamiya received the first detention of her school career that year. She was unfairly accused of being involved in a fight, she said.
“I was at the wrong place at the wrong time,” she said. “So they associated me with being in the wrong crowd.”
Kamiya learned a valuable life lesson.
“I had to step back and realize not everything comes easy,” she said. “… I learned even being myself can cause trouble, but it’s just being you. You don’t really have to change just to fit in the crowd because everyone is made different.”
New school, new outlook
Her grandmother reminded Kamiya of her passion for dance and encouraged her to apply to Rainey-McCullers, a magnet school that educates students in grades 6-12 interested in focusing on the arts.
“Maybe it will help you become yourself again,” Kamiya recalled her grandmother telling her.
As a result, Kamiya said, “that school literally changed my life.”
The teachers and students welcomed her, she said.
Kamiya didn’t take any dance classes before joining Rainey-McCullers. She instead learned by watching online dance videos.
Her favorite dance genre is hip-hop because it gives her the most freedom — and she doesn’t have to wear a leotard, she said.
“I usually beat myself down, but lately I’ve been actually pushing myself to do better,” Kamiya said. “Whenever I come across something I can’t seem to accomplish, I always push forward.”
Transportation problem solved
After the fire, she stopped regularly going to a Boys & Girls Club for several years because the buses from her new school went to a different club, and she didn’t want to switch clubs. But when she was an eighth-grader, Kamiya missed the club experience so much — especially BGCCV Teen Center director Antonio Pace — she decided to return.
Pace is a father figure for Kamiya, she said.
“I missed seeing him every day,” she said. “I missed having his energy reflect onto me. It’s great to be around him.”
Pace has known Kamiya since she was 6. Seeing her transform from struggling to succeeding, he told the L-E, she is “the poster child” for the BGCCV.
Despite now attending a school that’s not on a regular route for the BGCCV’s buses, Kamiya still figured out a way to regularly attend the club’s Teen Center again.
“Through her sheer pestering me,” Pace said with a smile, “we pick her and another young lady up.”
Her persistence doesn’t surprise Pace.
“She’s very outspoken,” he said. “She’s one of the few kids that tells it like it is, whether you like it or don’t like it.”
BGCCV programs allow Kamiya to be a leader and expand her horizons. She helps younger students with homework in the adjacent J. Barnett Woodruff Club in south Columbus. She participated in a Chattahoochee River cleanup day, a Thanksgiving food giveaway and a clothing drive. She toured colleges such as West Georgia, Fort Valley State and Columbus State.
Kamiya plans to major in criminal justice and minor in dance. She is thinking about becoming a lawyer or a dance teacher — or both.
“I love making sure things go right, the justice you deserve,” she said. “… (Dance) is my creative outlet.”
Reflecting on what the BGCCV staff and members have meant to her, Kamiya said her message to them is, “I love you all so much. If I could give you a big hug, it would be the longest big hug ever.”
Selection process
A panel of community leaders selected Kamiya out of three other finalists nominated by their clubs:
- Elijah Adams, a junior at Carver High School
- Chaniya Davis, a sophomore at Carver High School
- Vanisha Miles, a sophomore at Smiths Station High School.
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The selection process required the candidates to deliver a speech, answer questions in an interview and write essays in an application with recommendations, a resume and a cover letter.
“Kamiya was selected based on strong involvement in the club and community and her strong interview techniques along with her speech delivery,” BGCCV senior director for strategic development Tavari Turner told the L-E. “Her application was strong as well and the fact that she continues to excel academically with a 3.4 GPA.”
HOW TO JOIN THE BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS
The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Chattahoochee Valley has five locations open to youth ages 6-18 who reside in the following counties: Chattahoochee, Clay, Harris, Marion, Muscogee, Quitman, Russell, Stewart, Talbot and Taylor.
The annual membership fee is $50. It costs an additional $250 to attend the summer program ($300 for a child who isn’t a member). Students who attend the Summer Learning Experience in the Muscogee County School District receive a discount for the BGCCV summer program, so their fee is $150 for members and $200 for nonmembers. Financial aid is available.
Applications may be submitted at bgc-colsg.org. For more information, call 706-596-9330.
