2016 "FOCUS ON YOUTH":
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Community Leader and Philanthropist:
Evelyn Brokering
Ojai Valley School, Ojai, CA
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© Evelyn Brokering
The above photo won Honorable Mention at the 2016 Brooks Institute Emerging Photographers Contest. More of Evelyn's silhouette series can be found from the link at the end of the interview. |
Evelyn Brokering is a senior at Ojai Valley School in Ojai, California. Originally from Japan, Evelyn chose to finish her last two years of high school in the United States, her father’s native country.
Evelyn is very active in her school community, acting as a prefect in her dorm and serving as the student counsel’s Community Service Representative. With her leading the charge, Ojai Valley School broke its record for collecting the most donations for the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life in 2016. This is just one of the many causes Evelyn has supported. She was awarded the Ojai Valley School Award for Community Service. Evelyn is an avid photographer and film buff, and she hopes to attend a California State University in the fall of 2017. |
Emily Dodi, editor and advertising manager, met with Evelyn to talk with her about the challenges she has faced since moving to the U.S. and her incredible contributions to her local community.
She had never been surfing before, but there she was, standing on a California beach at dawn with a bunch of people she barely knew. Evelyn Brokering was a new recruit in Dawn Patrol, her school’s surf club. Its members, led by an intrepid teacher, got up at dawn every Sunday morning while most of the other students at their boarding school were fast asleep. But Evelyn is always up for a challenge and surfing was something she wanted to try. Like all beginners she got knocked down by wave after wave, until that magic moment when all elements aligned — wind, sea and moxie — and she stood up and rode her first wave. She was hooked.
This is the way Evelyn approaches most things - with courage, wide-open curiosity and a positive attitude. She dives into life by saying yes to new experiences and not shying away from challenges, including one of the most difficult imaginable: dealing with the loss of her father to cancer almost three years ago. Less than a year after her father died, Evelyn left Japan to go to boarding school in California. Her English was rusty, and she was a long way from home, but Evelyn was quick to make friends, join in activities and seek out ways in which she could help other students who were also dealing with grief.
Helping others has always been important to Evelyn, but giving back to her community also served as an elixir as she grieved her father's death. A few years ago, she began asking her relatives to donate to charity instead of sending her Christmas gifts. Compared to her rigorous academic schedule in Japan, going to school in the States gave her more time to, as she explains, “do what’s right and keep busy so I didn’t have to think of the past. I could focus and give my time to really help."
Evelyn's philosophy embodies her inspiring blend of optimism and pragmatism: “I can’t get my dad back, but I can help make the community better," she says, adding, "Volunteering gives me purpose." The volunteer projects she has undertaken include setting up a stall at the Annual Ojai Day festival to sell crafts to benefit charity. The first year, Evelyn and a few friends sold homemade dream catchers and photographs to raise money for the Water Project. The next year, Evelyn mobilized the school’s student council to sponsor the stall and motivated more students to donate their time as well as homemade crafts. Together they raised $1,000 for the local Humane Society.
Last spring, Evelyn helped her school raise almost $6,000 for the American Cancer Society by organizing a team for the Annual Relay for Life. Under Evelyn's leadership, they set a school record, and topped the list of Ojai’s highest fundraisers for the event. This year she was elected as her school’s Community Service Representative. Evelyn is always on the lookout for ways in which she and her classmates can help, from walking for a cure to participating in a beach cleanup. Over the summer, Evelyn’s sights went beyond school when she was chosen to attend a youth leadership conference at Pepperdine University.
Next year this remarkable young woman is headed off to college (university to be determined) and new adventures. She has been able to move through much of her grief and is excited about the future. While she predicts that her demanding college schedule might leave less time for volunteer work, she says that whatever she can do to help others "will still feel good."
Giving back not only makes Evelyn Brokering happy, it also makes the world a happier place.
This is the way Evelyn approaches most things - with courage, wide-open curiosity and a positive attitude. She dives into life by saying yes to new experiences and not shying away from challenges, including one of the most difficult imaginable: dealing with the loss of her father to cancer almost three years ago. Less than a year after her father died, Evelyn left Japan to go to boarding school in California. Her English was rusty, and she was a long way from home, but Evelyn was quick to make friends, join in activities and seek out ways in which she could help other students who were also dealing with grief.
Helping others has always been important to Evelyn, but giving back to her community also served as an elixir as she grieved her father's death. A few years ago, she began asking her relatives to donate to charity instead of sending her Christmas gifts. Compared to her rigorous academic schedule in Japan, going to school in the States gave her more time to, as she explains, “do what’s right and keep busy so I didn’t have to think of the past. I could focus and give my time to really help."
Evelyn's philosophy embodies her inspiring blend of optimism and pragmatism: “I can’t get my dad back, but I can help make the community better," she says, adding, "Volunteering gives me purpose." The volunteer projects she has undertaken include setting up a stall at the Annual Ojai Day festival to sell crafts to benefit charity. The first year, Evelyn and a few friends sold homemade dream catchers and photographs to raise money for the Water Project. The next year, Evelyn mobilized the school’s student council to sponsor the stall and motivated more students to donate their time as well as homemade crafts. Together they raised $1,000 for the local Humane Society.
Last spring, Evelyn helped her school raise almost $6,000 for the American Cancer Society by organizing a team for the Annual Relay for Life. Under Evelyn's leadership, they set a school record, and topped the list of Ojai’s highest fundraisers for the event. This year she was elected as her school’s Community Service Representative. Evelyn is always on the lookout for ways in which she and her classmates can help, from walking for a cure to participating in a beach cleanup. Over the summer, Evelyn’s sights went beyond school when she was chosen to attend a youth leadership conference at Pepperdine University.
Next year this remarkable young woman is headed off to college (university to be determined) and new adventures. She has been able to move through much of her grief and is excited about the future. While she predicts that her demanding college schedule might leave less time for volunteer work, she says that whatever she can do to help others "will still feel good."
Giving back not only makes Evelyn Brokering happy, it also makes the world a happier place.
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Click below for a link to more of Evelyn's work, including more silhouette photos which are now part of a series.
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Click below for the link to one of Evelyn's articles for the school newspaper:
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