HC DrugFree was pleased to partner with Wilde Lake High School in bringing Congressman Elijah Cummings to speak to the students and faculty on December 6th. Congressman Cummings challenged the students to find the "enemy of their destiny" and to ask themselves, "What will stop me from being all God made me to be?" He identified two common enemies to the destinies of young people as the wrong friends and drugs. "If you want to be great, hang out with great people," he said. He went on to say that sometimes young people get into trouble by hanging out with the wrong friends. The Congressman also compared taking drugs to chasing death. "Drugs are the enemy that throws young people off their paths." He begged each teen to look at the enemy of his or her destiny. If the enemy is friends, get new ones. If the enemy is drugs, address it. Shaping your destiny will impact not just your life, but your children and their children. This is bigger than you!
Juliana Kaiser, HC DrugFree Teen Advisory Council (TAC) member and Wilde Lake High School student, addressed the crowd inviting them to attend TAC meetings. Kaiser shared with her peers the very personal reason that she has chosen to be a member of TAC. "
Eight years ago, a family friend who was 17 at the time, died in an alcohol-related accident. I know the loss I feel, and I also know the pain and sorrow his family endured." She went on to say that her goal is to educate her peers and hopefully prevent someone else from experiencing a similar tragedy. TAC is open to any high school student in Howard County and welcomes new members throughout the year. TAC meetings are held once a month at The Barn in Oakland Mills Village Center. For a list of 2014 TAC meeting dates, please
click here. For more information about HC DrugFree, please visit
www.hcdrugfree.org or send me an email at Joan@hcdrugfree.org.
To make a tax deductible donation to HC DrugFree, please
click here.