CO9to25 Youth Spotlight: Kristin Podgurski
Kristin Podgurski is one of those people. You know the ones I’m talking about—the ones that make you feel anything’s possible. The ones that have looked life in the eye and said, “Bring it on.” The ones with heart, courage, and determination.
Her first experience with the mental health system came when she was just 14 years old. She was over-diagnosed, overmedicated, ended up being hospitalized, dropped out of high school, was in residential treatment, and struggled with self-harm.
And now? She has a college degree, a job she’s very excited about, and is using her story to create change. She aims to empower youth to help them realize their value and ability to change things, too. Kristin’s passion for youth advocacy is evident when she speaks about all the ways she has developed her own voice and the voice of others to help improve broken systems.
“There were a few turning points,” she explains when I ask her how she was able to so drastically change the direction her life was going. She tells me about the first psychiatrist who saw her as a whole person rather than a diagnosis. She tells me about being faced with the opportunity to go to college, and the realization that she could either stay on the grim trajectory she was on or take this path and change her life. She tells me about the first time someone invited her to use art as a creative outlet and experiencing the power of self-expression. She tells me about joining the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Council as a youth advisor. It was on this council that she realized people really wanted to hear what she had to say. “It was the first time that I thought, My voice matters.”
That is the message Kristin wants young people to hear. “You may feel alone right now, that things won’t get better,” she says. “I was that youth that everyone gave up on and I really started to believe that I wouldn’t amount to anything. But I know now I can use these horrible things I lived to do something. You can use these experiences to make change, and your story can be used to better these systems. Don’t sell yourself short; you’re stronger than you think you are. You matter, your voice matters, and your life matters.”
She also has a few things to share with adults who work with young people on boards, councils, projects, etc.: “Remember that for a lot of youth, this isn’t just a professional opportunity or a resume booster. Have the sensitivity to see that for some it’s also a very personal journey of advocacy and healing.” She suggests checking in with young people on their emotional state and having resources or referrals available if there’s a need. “The best thing adults can do,” she adds, “is to trust young people. Listen, take them seriously, and let them actually develop things and have real decision-making power. Treat them like the subject-matter experts that they are.”
See? I told you she’s one of those people.
