Gittings Photography
Elina Dickens has always had a passion for helping people break through barriers. That’s one of the reasons why she was recognized with the Girl Scouts’ Young Woman of Distinction award last month.
A Southlake Carroll senior, Elina has been involved in the community in a myriad of ways. As one of the founding members of the Mayor’s Alliance for Unity and Culture, Elina has worked for the past several years on ways to bring residents together and spread cultural awareness. A few of the ways she’s done that is by organizing a Teen Traffic Talk event earlier this fall that broke down what to do when you get pulled over, and organizing a clean-up Southlake event in December.
“The whole purpose is to meet or work with other people you don’t normally talk to on a regular basis,” Elina expresses. “Cultural awareness is very important because sometimes someone will say something without thinking whether it was really appropriate to say that. When you become culturally aware, other people can see a different perspective of what someone else is trying to tell them. It’s really just a matter of respect.”
More recently, Elina has been recognized by the Girl Scouts for her Gold Award project where she developed an English conversation chat program for ESL students in Keller ISD. Elina says she is one of two Girl Scouts selected for the honor out of thousands of scouts across Northeast Texas.
“I screamed when I got the call,” Elina expresses. “I ran down the stairs, told my mom and we were both just so excited. I never thought that this would happen to me. I didn’t think I was going to get it. I was just so surprised and happy.”
Elina says she’s grateful for her experiences with the Girl Scouts, her time on the Mayor’s Alliance and looks forward to what the future will bring for her.
“My passion has always been just helping other people,” Elina says. “I really just want to help people wherever they’re at.”