High-school senior Andrea Pointer is nothing short of a community-activist and volunteer extraordinaire. She has travelled as far as Mexico and Louisiana on missions trips where she volunteered in local churches and orphanages, went door-to-door giving away food, and helped host nightly church services. For the past two years, she has volunteered constructing houses with Habitat for Humanity. She also participates in her local youth board “Youth Establishing Strength”, mentors teenagers, and attends weekly leadership classes. In her freshman year she was selected to attend University of Central Oklahoma Leadership Academy (UCOLA) and served as a Page in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. She is also an active member of DECA, which is a program in high schools and colleges across the world that prepares emerging young leaders in the fields of finance, marketing, hospitality and, management. In her spare time, Andrea plays the guitar, participates in her church drama group, takes a digital photography course, writes poetry, and plays a variety of sports including basketball, tennis, and volleyball. She loves “anything outdoors” and enjoys organizing and planning events such as surprise parties, baby showers, and volunteer activities. When she isn’t at school or participating in her numerous extra-curricular and volunteer activities, Andrea works as a customer service agent at a local hotel. Andrea was in and out of foster care for seven years starting when she was 11 years old. She moved into her final foster home when she was 13. Five days before she turned 18, she was adopted by her aunt and uncle along with her younger siblings. Although Andrea recounts both positive and negative experiences in foster care, she writes, “I have grown to appreciate the difficulties of my childhood and never want to forget how the experiences I had growing up have shaped me into who I am today. My past has made me the strong, confident, and goal-oriented woman that I am today.” She aims to reach out to other youth in foster care and help them understand “they have a purpose, they are loved, they are prized, and they are worth so much more than what they have chosen to see.” This spring Andrea will officially become the first person in her family to graduate high school and move on to attend college. She plans on attending the University of Central Oklahoma to major in Business Administration with an emphasis on Resort/Service Management along with a minor in Spanish. Her long-term career goal is “to start a business that promotes the physical, emotional, spiritual, and psychological well-being of women.” Andrea’s teacher writes, “Andrea is a survivor! Andrea brings to each and every experience knowledge and lessons learned from many situations both positive and negative. Her message is loud, clear, positive and encouraging.”
