Mona Kudlak

YOUNG LEADER MAKING HER MARK IN THE COMMUNITY

The meaning of being a young person to me means going through the ‘ups and downs’ of life, letting your feelings flow, and enjoying the chaos of all the obstacles in life. No matter if it’s good or bad, you learn as you go. Showing the children how great it feels to have confidence and great self-esteem to get through anything that life throws at you.

Some of the challenges are losing friends because of accusations—mutual friends can have hate against you and their friends follow them and hate on you too. It all depends on how ‘popular’ you are, I guess. A lack of support—this is one of many reasons you feel so alone, because your friends all go their own ways as they figure out who they are, and what they want to do in life. You will lose friends, you will lose hope. But there will always be people there for you, to support you and stick by your side— you just need to find the right people to stay with. These are some of the most exciting years of your life, when you start to realize things in your life, and how well you live your life is up to you. Losing someone so close in your life may feel like it’s the end of the world, but it’s not. It’s the start of a crazy fun life you will build for yourself. Self-respect for your mind and body from the start is much easier than learning to as you go through life. Always set your mind to be the best person you can be, ‘cause you’re a child’s peer.

Our young people will be our future—support them, teach them your tradition, and most of all, love them, because they will be passing it on to the next generations. Listen to them and teach them to stand tall with everything they choose in life. The special thing about being a young person is that you are just learning how to be an adult or adjusting your life to prepare for your older years, and you figure out who you are and who you’re going to be. Educate and motivate our young people to create their own unique life.

To our youth and young people: never be scared to speak your mind, and always try something new, even if its scares you. It’s normal to feel that way when it’s about a change in your lifestyle. No matter how many mistakes you make, you can amend your mistake; learn from it and better yourself after. Be young, do your thing. Just be sure it’s the right thing for you. Stand up for yourself. Change whatever you are doing that makes you unhappy. Life’s too short to spend it unhappy, even if it means letting go of that toxic relationship or friendship. One day in your life, you will feel like your life is worthless and you are stuck and don’t know where to get help, but there is always someone who can help!

Don’t ever feel like your goal is never reachable. You can figure it out—I believe in you guys.

I live in Ulukhaktok. I am 22 years young, and still face a lot that a young person does at this point. You start noticing either you and your friends are too busy with each other's lives to always be with each other or to keep in touch every day. Some will be getting married if they are not already; friends are in different communities, or in a city going to school. No matter who you are, you are important to this world you will make a difference in this world.