Spring, a season of anticipation, joy and most of all hope! Hope for long days of sunshine, blooming flowers, abundant gardens and lazy summer days. Hope was palpable in the air in Pittsburgh this weekend as our annual celebration of spring unfolded for our girls, our mentors and our large community of partners, sponsors and fans. The anticipation began building at the Friday night social where the crowd warmed up for Saturday’s festivities in high style… Salsa Dancing! Our Pittsburgh mentors out did themselves with this fabulous event. The dance floor was alive with color and energy as the SWSG crowd owned the dance floor, stepping, turning and twirling to the beat of the Latin music vibrating in the air.
Dancing effortlessly into the morning events at the Petersen Center at the University of Pittsburgh, the vibration of hope continued as the SWSG Pittsburgh team flawlessly lead hundreds of young girls through a morning of smiles, laughter and joy and jumping rope of course! Wide eyes and bright faces were mesmerized as two of our girls challenged two of the Pittsburgh Steelers in a jump off, while music blared, cheerleaders cheered, hip hop dancers danced and step teams stepped out. Candi Castleberry-Singleton brought us a message of hope through her high energy and motivational speech about the importance of education and how her dreams were made real through higher education. As Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), Candi epitomized what is to be a strong woman inspiring our young women around the power of hope and hard work.
SWSG’s annual celebration reminded me this weekend that hope is not a dream, but a way of making dreams become reality.