A Lakeland College student who came to Lloydminster from Manitoba has not only made the Border City her home but is giving back to young girls in an empowerment program called Girls Beyond Borders.
Sarah Hogue has two national volleyball titles with the college and is changing her focus to coaching and mentoring.
Girls Beyond Borders has had help from StartUp Lloydminster, the Rotary Club, and Synergy Credit Union. Through her endeavours, Hogue has put on several workshops for girls 9-14 years.
“Confidence and self-esteem, leadership, goal setting, mindfulness, writing and journaling, time management and productivity, communication and public speaking, and volunteering and community building.”
Hogue adds the ninth workshop is an athlete empowerment session.
“I have the confidence and self-esteem workshop first. Building a base of confidence and personal acceptance I think is really important to go through all those other phases. I’ve gotten a lot of leadership experience in my life. I’ve been lucky enough to have those experiences. The program in its entirety is really something I would have loved, and it’s based on a lot of stuff that I’ve learned in my life and that I personally want top share,” says Hogue.
The athlete is finishing up her bachelor’s in general studies and has been accepted to the University of Calgary’s community-based education program. She will remain in the Border City to complete her studies with hopes of teaching when she is done. Her passion remains with building the confidence and self-esteem of young girls.
“I am definitely passionate about people. Seeing people succeed is a huge thing for me. If I can have any part in helping someone else become better and love themselves more – I think that’s really important to me.”
Hogue has played volleyball at the college for the past five years and sees it as a privilege and an honour to be on the team and experience the opportunities they have had.
She aims to expand to older teens going forward as her long-term plans include teaching at high school.
Hogue is fresh back from Weyburn, where she took the program on the road for an athlete empowerment workshop with over 40 girls. She says registration is open so participants can choose to come to as many workshops as they want.
Parents wishing to sign up their girls in the Girls Beyond Borders workshops can visit the website, social media, or email Sarah Hogue using [email protected].
