Volunteer of the Month - Myla H.

We are pleased to introduce our newest Volunteer of the Month, from our PhoneBuddies program, Myla H. Myla was raised in Stillwater, Minnesota by wonderful parents who have inspired her immensely by watching them, together and separately, tackle the biggest responsibilities, and persevere through some of the hardest times . She says they have endlessly put their children first in their lives, and their main goal has always been to support them. The unconditional love she receives from them is a constant reminder that she can truly accomplish anything she sets her mind to. Myla attributes who she is today from the love and guidance they have provided and for being her constant rock.  

Growing up Myla always did various small jobs to make some money, like helping her mom in the garden or doing chores around the house. However, she started her first real job at sixteen at Caribou Coffee as a coffee barista and is still employed there a couple days a week along with a second job at a restaurant. In her free time she loves to write. For as long as she can remember, Myla has always kept a notebook by her bedside. When she was younger, one of her favorite things to do was to sit down and write fiction stories, wherever her mind took her. Originally, she started as a journalism major at CU, but realized that writing was something that she preferred as a hobby rather than make a career out of it.

Myla describes herself as generous, ambitious, and resilient.

Resilient because she had to overcome the challenges of remote schooling during the Covid-19 years. It caused Myla a lot of hardship being isolated from peers  for so long. After Covid, it was scary not only having to reintegrate to being back in school but she was also starting high school which is a hard transition in general. It was extremely challenging both socially and personally for her to adjust after the lack of having face to face communication and connection but Myla persevered, and acknowledges that it truly made her such a stronger and more resilient person in retrospect.

Ambitious because at the young age of eighteen, after graduating high school, she had the courage and ambition to pick up and leave her beloved Minnesotan life  and move to Colorado. She knew she needed a change, and that college was her ultimate opportunity. In the beginning it was strenuous being somewhere she'd never been before, with so many strangers, but Myla is incredibly proud of herself for taking the leap. She loves living in Colorado and all the new friends she surrounds herself with here.  Myla is passionate about personal growth and learning. She loves to challenge herself with trying new things, and becoming a better person throughout her experiences. She is constantly eager to learn new ways she can evolve personally, as well as professionally. Whether this be by cultivating new habits, developing new skills, or learning from her mistakes.

Generous because at a young age she discovered the difference she can make by giving back by volunteering with her high school’s Key Club with her sister. As she continued to participate in events, Myla realized the impact she could make in people’s lives. For example, she signed up to rake a yard for a man who had lost the ability to use his legs in years past, and struggled to do a lot of day-to-day activities.  So Myla and other volunteers got together, and raked the mountains and mountains of leaves for a few hours. The homeowner came out as they were gathering up our things, and he could not believe his eyes. Tears began streaming down his face and he said they had no idea how much this meant to him. In that moment, Myla realized the importance of giving back. It made her so unbelievably joyful to see how their gift of time affected this man. After that, she has been generous with her time and hasn't shied away from taking more and more volunteer opportunities. Volunteering abroad is one of the things on her bucket list. She loves being able to help out in her smaller town in Minnesota, or even over here in Colorado but it is her dream to be able to do that in another country, and aid people all over the world.

Myla's grandmother has had a significant impact on her life.  Her grandma was a social worker in child protection for almost 20 years, and taught her the biggest lesson she ever learned: you never know what somebody’s home life is like. She says her grandma saw some of the worst households, with some of the worst parents, and some of the most heart-breaking lives. Those experiences made her such a strong woman, and someone Myla can only dream of becoming one day.  The strong bond Myla shares with her grandmother makes her a perfect volunteer for our PhoneBuddies program because she has the heart, desire and understanding of the importance of relating to elders and how mutually they can learn from each other.  

Thank you to Myla for making time to volunteer during her studies and student life. We appreciate her dedication to her Phone Buddy client and we love hearing about the positive impact PhoneBuddies has for both of them.