To be completely honest, in the past I have never heard of the YAP program. When I learned about it, I wasn’t sure what this program was about or what went on in the program. I thought we just watched musicals. I found it to be so much more than what I expected and in a good way. It involved all of the things I loved doing such as watching musicals, writing, community service, meeting new people, etc.
Covid put a halt to all of the normal activities and events that would usually happen in a normal YAPPER year. Yet this program really made an impact on my life. When everything was shut down and you couldn’t hang out with anyone or even socialize with people. But when we would have the YAP zoom meetings I would immediately be in a better mood. I would see all these new faces and just think that hopefully in the future I could meet everyone.
Coming into this program I did know others that were already involved or were applying so I didn’t feel alone. If I did apply without knowing anyone I would still feel welcomed and comfortable and that’s only one of the things I loved about YAP. Throughout these insane past couple years with everything being shut down, YAP has truly helped me come out of a really dark place in my life to now be happy and enjoying life even with all of these restrictions. I enjoyed the program even throughout this hard time and that’s why I would love to return. It’s honestly such a great experience to get to know people and help out our community and even watch musicals.
This program gives you the chance to just be yourself and have no one judge you for what you believe in or what your interests are or how you look. Everyone just welcomes you with arms wide open. I have stood by this and continue to stand by this, When you find something you really enjoy doing, never let go of that joy. YAP is a great example of that. I can’t thank all of the people who run this program enough because without this program, life would have been ten times harder that it could have been. I will keep coming back to this program as long as I can. This truly will be one of the best memories of my teenage years. I will continue to support YAP and recommend it to others! Again, thank you for the opportunity!
-Alexandria Service, Sophomore, Frankfort Schuyler
