Goal number one: Ride all the rides at Disneyland, including the scary ones. Goal number two: Make friends with all of the other state Youths of the Year prior to competing against them in Anaheim for a coveted spot in the national competition in President Barack Obama’s office this fall.
While the first goal could be from any teenager’s to do list, Autumn Cuellar of Carson City is not just any teen, thus, goal number two.
Cuellar, an 18-year old Carson High School graduate and Nevada State Boys & Girls Clubs of America Youth of The Year, competes this week in Anaheim, Calif. against youth from eight western states for the Pacific Region title. If she wins, she will advance to the national competition in Washington, D.C. against winners from eight other regions across the country.
“I’m both excited and nervous to compete in regionals,” Cuellar said. “The venue and contest are bigger than the state completion, but I’ll get to meet new people and make friends.”
Matt Sampson, program director for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Western Nevada, Cuellar’s home Club, said while she may be nervous, Cuellar, diagnosed at an early age with cerebral palsy, is not scared, ever.
“I’ve never seen her upset by her challenges in the seven years she’s been coming to the Club,” he said. “It has never impacted her personality, her grades or her future desires.”
Following the regional competition, Cuellar and Sampson will attend an advanced youth leadership seminar in Atlanta with state winners from across the country.
Sampson said these trips will serve as a dry run for her upcoming move to the University of Nevada, Reno in the fall to study computer engineering. She will reside in the Women in Science and Engineering Living and Learning Center on campus.
“Autumn will learn just how independent she can be,” he said. “She’ll have a roommate she’s never met before and will create her own community in Atlanta, just as she will at the University.”
Cuellar said travelling is helping her to open up more and be more comfortable around new people.
“It will be a challenge for me to learn different ways to do certain things,” she said. “I’m determined to find out how on my own.”
In the photo, Autumn Cuellar, 18, presents her Youth of the Year speech to the crowd at the Decades Concert at TJ’s Corral in Minden during the Coach Mike Tice charity event benefitting the Boys & Girls Clubs of Western Nevada’s Carson Valley Club. Coach Tice of the Oakland Raiders looks on.
In the video below, Autumn Cuellar, Nevada State Boys & Girls Club Youth of the Year, will present this speech at the regional competition in Anaheim this week. The regional winner will advance to the national competition in Washington, D.C.