I am so amazed by the courage of high school students in today's society. They are vocal, confident, and determined in sharing their messages. Sometimes it's about bullying, other times it's discussing the need for acceptance, and then there are times when teenagers discuss tanning with their classmates.
I introduced you to the beautiful Caroline earlier this year. Caroline spoke in front of 350+ classmates about the dangers of tanning and the need for sun protection. According to Caroline's mom, she created quite the buzz in her school! (You can hear Caroline's speech here.)
Today I am bringing Ms. Taylor to your attention. Once again, I don't know this brave high school student. She found my blog a few months ago and messaged my melanoma pal to ask him to speak to me regarding permission to share my story. This morning I woke up to a message from Paul saying Taylor had done it, she wrote the story, and that story made it to the front page of her high school's newspaper! (You can read the article here.)
I am so in awe of these strangers. Like I said in my original post about Caroline, I know that I did not have the courage to stand in front of my high school peers and discuss a habit that many of us had. I mean, we tanned for a reason...We wanted to be beautiful. To talk about something that the majority of us enjoyed so much would be to go against the majority. And in high school, who wants to take that chance? These girls had an opportunity to apply the things they learned about melanoma and skin cancer, add a 'face' to their presentation, and share it with those willing to listen.
From all of us in the melanoma community, we thank you Taylor and Caroline for your awesome efforts at raising awareness for this cause so close to our hearts!
