Their Region
Coastal
Dear Determined Me: Nick’s Letter to His Younger Self
I'm Determined Youth Leader Since 2024
Meet Nick: Nicholas Griffiths is a 19-year-old senior at Western Branch High School in Chesapeake, Virginia who is passionate about trains — from building model railroads to dreaming of becoming a train engineer at Norfolk Southern Railway or a truck mechanic. He’s a loyal friend who also values quiet time to recharge.
Dear Determined Me,
When it comes to making choices. I think on it very carefully on what choices I make, and know what is right and wrong. When I got involved in I’m Determined I felt kinda nervous. Now since I been with I’m Determined I can respond to my younger self questions. After I went to I’m Determined Summit, I felt more confident in myself with speaking up and doing things out of my comfort shell. By being a youth leader it change my relationship with my friends by helping them.
One of my skills is to advocate for myself and it has become a huge value after the I’m Determined Summit. I would tell my younger self to not take it too hard, but rather a lesson and move forward. My strength for advocacy has improved after I joined I’m Determined. How I use my voice by speaking up for myself and not being scared of everyone who might judge me.
My advice for youth is never give up and move forward. I would encourage my younger self saying “Never Give Up”. My family play a big role in helping me with everything. My understanding of Self-determination is that you can over come challenges independently.
One of things that my younger self saw as impossible was to speak up and ask questions because I feel like somebody might judge me, but now I’am not scared of it anymore. What it like to have self-determined is like having independent and be able to overcome obstacles that are ahead of you. One of the things I would tell my younger self is to never give up even if the day was really difficult.
