Brooklyn Hughes

Brooklyn Hughes – Texas
Nomination by Brye Rutledge
Photography by Chris Shabay Photography
Issue 61 of Inspiring Teens Magazine
​

Nomination: Brooklyn has been nominated because of her positivity and happiness that she shines unto others that makes them feel like they are important. Brooklyn, beyond being smart, has been a leader in academics, cheer, and enjoys being surrounded by friends and family. Brooklyn is excited to embark on her next chapter as a university freshman. Brooklyn is a determined young lady that will continue to inspire all those around her and continue to be a positive role model.
​

Photography by Chris Shabay Photography

​Tell us about your experiences as a leader.
My favorite leadership position was leading Freshman Retreat at my school. One of my best friends Olivia Pearson and I took 10 other seniors to Bowie, Texas, along with the entire freshman class of 83 students. During this Olivia and I had to plan cooking, sleeping arrangements, theme nights, people speaking, worship, and all activities. This experience had a big impact on me, and I learned many things such as how many chicken nuggets a freshman boy can eat, which is a lot more than you would expect. Along with how many chicken nuggets a freshman boy can eat, I also learned how difficult it can be to lead a group that large. We had many downs from not having chicken for our chicken dinner, not enough places for luggage to go, and the freezing cold weather. Along with the downs we had many ups such as building many relationships with the underclassmen, getting to worship and lead with my fellow seniors and teach the freshmen about our high school experiences, and the amazing slip-n-slide we had on the last day of camp. Another leadership experience was being a camp counselor at Allaso Ranch. I led a group of ten, fifth grade girls, for a week of camp. I loved having this experience because although I led the freshman retreat, I got to actually bond with the girls and do everything with them because I was not running around leading camp. I got to see the goods and the bads of both leadership roles and I am very blessed to have had the opportunity to experience both.

What is your most prominent leadership quality?
My most prominent leadership quality is my boldness. I love being a leader and taking charge to get things done. This is one of my favorite qualities because I was not always as bold as I am today. When I first came to my new school in sixth grade, I was terrified and all I wanted was to fit in. Throughout middle school I started to discover who I wanted to be as an overall person and how to love myself for who I am. After I started to know and love my personality, I began to act more and more like myself and stand out. I learned that it is okay to be yourself because you don't want to be exactly like everyone else that you are around. It's okay to branch out and make new friends, be who you want to be, and make decisions for yourself because it is your own life and your friends and the people around you can't live it for you. Being bold has given me many opportunities such as taking leadership positions, meeting new people outside of my school, not being afraid to perform in front of my peers, and not being afraid to be myself. Being bold has given me the courage to be who I am and that is why I believe it is my favorite and most prominent leadership quality.

What do you love about being in a leadership position?
The thing I love most about being in a leadership position is getting to help those around me come to a common goal of success. I love getting to know the groups that I am working with and just overall reaching out and working together with people that I most likely wouldn't have met or have met in the past.

Photography by Chris Shabay Photography

What has your cheer career been like?
My cheer career has had many ups and downs. When I first started cheer, not going to lie, I was pretty bad. I had been in gymnastics prior and decided to switch so that I could make new friends at my new school Grapevine Faith Christian School in Grapevine, Texas. I started in 7th grade and have been cheering ever since. I love everything about cheerleading and have met some of my best friends through the sport. I not only love it because of the Friday night football games, competitions, or dances. I love it because I don't know where I would be today without my team. My team is filled with some of the best people I have ever met, who are not only beautiful on the outside but are gorgeous on the inside. My team has made me the person I am today. In my cheerleading career today, I am still loving every second of it. I love the pep- rallies to get my school fired up, the routines we perform at halftime, and showing a good example of who the school is through our amazing routines and attitudes.

What is a favorite accomplishment with cheer?
My favorite accomplishment would have to be when my team decided a month before the Taaps State Competition that we wanted to compete. We put together a routine, practiced multiple times a week, got uniforms, and went to the arena. The best part is that the team did not actually know that we were competing for state until we got there and saw it on a banner. This was our first competition ever! We ended up doing really well and left as state runner ups, which was amazing for our first year of competition. That was my favorite accomplishment because my team worked together, did something great, made amazing memories, and ended up doing way better than we expected.
​
What is a favorite memory with your cheer team?
My favorite memory with my team was the bus ride on the way to round two of the state competition. The final round that we knew we needed to do our best in to get our score up. On the bus the team sat and talked about our experiences so far during competition and how we could grow in places and how we did well in places. My team has never been so close. We made so many memories such as following the wrong bus all the way home that ended up being a “Groom on the Go” truck for dogs, dancing to the fantastic Taylor Swift right before competition, and just getting to know each other better than we did before.

What is your cheer team like? Where do you fit in and where do you stand out?
My cheer team is filled with many different amazing personalities that come together and make a great team. I firmly believe that we can do anything we put our minds to. We use our differences to make us better, and it makes it better that they are my best friends on and off the mat. I love these girls with all my whole heart. It is not just a cheer team it is a family, and I am so blessed to have them in my life. On the cheer team, I love to get things done as smoothly as possible. I stand out by trying to keep an upright attitude and bring a smile with me to practice every day. Although sometimes we run, condition, or do things we may not like to do my team still finds a way to make every minute count. With this being my last year on the team due to me being a senior I have been striving to make the most out of it. I would do anything for this team, and I can't wait to see what we accomplish in the future.

Photography by Chris Shabay Photography

​What do you love doing most with your family?
The thing I love doing most with my family is going to look at Christmas lights. This may seem very generic but the way we do it is anything but ordinary. My family might have to be one of the busiest families I know. My sister is a junior in college at Texas Tech University where I plan to attend next fall, and my mom and dad both have jobs keeping the family very busy. Once a year around Christmas time of course, when everyone is home, my family goes out to eat and looks at Christmas lights. I love everything about Christmas, the lights, the songs, the Starbucks drinks, and most importantly the memories. My family always starts out looking at lights and then somehow ends up searching for the nearest Starbucks for hot cocoa. The reason I love looking at the lights so much is because we are all together doing something we enjoy, and of course the hot chocolate!

What is a favorite family memory?
My favorite memory with my family would have to be when we took a trip to the Bahamas the summer of my eight grade. My family is not very big on traveling and up until we got there the most I knew about the Bahamas is that Bahama Bucks the snow cone stand was named after it. My favorite part of the trip was the excursion day. We got on a boat, played with iguanas, pigs, and spent all day together as a family. My favorite part was pig island. My mom failed to mention to me that there were sharks in the water. I was terrified of sharks. I got in and looked down because I felt something swim by me. Sure enough it was indeed a shark. I remember screaming so loud my sister could hear it on the opposite side of the beach, and running out of the water as fast as I could.

Where would we find you and your friends if you had nothing to do and all day to do it?
My friends and I love getting ready and just driving around, taking pictures, having picnics, and making memories with each other. Our favorite part is just driving and seeing the places we end up. I have made so many memories and seen so many of the areas that I live in that I wouldn't have seen if I just stayed in my room all day. I love my friends and everything about them. I believe every person that I am friends with is in my life for a reason and I am so blessed to have them as a part of my life.

How did you find and why did you choose Chris Shabay for your photographer?
In the past my sister, Brianna Hughes, chose Chris Shabay for her senior picture photographer. I love his pictures and the way he captures our personalities, makes every picture different, and overall looks to get the best out of every picture and make everyone get a picture they love. This is why I chose Mr. Shabay for my pictures.

What was your experience like? What did you love most about it?
My experience was fantastic. Mr. Shabay made all my ideas come together in a great way. I love how parts of my personality are shown in the pictures through my poses, outfits, and just overall. Mr. Shabay took ideas that I was brainstorming from and made them come to life. He made sure that my pictures were made individually for me and that I would love everything about them. It's not just the pictures, Mr. Shabay is an amazing person overall and makes it so much fun. I have gotten a chance to know Mr. Shabay through being on his senior modeling team the “Shabay Squad” Which has also given me the opportunity to step outside of my comfort zone, get to meet other girls that I most likely wouldn't have gotten to meet that also love taking pictures, and get to know Mr. Shabay and see all of his ideas come to light.

Photography by Chris Shabay Photography

​What inspiring things about you does your nomination not cover?
My nomination failed to point out my passion for pouring into the lives of the youth around me. This year I have led two school retreats to encourage youth to follow their passions. The upper class men get an opportunity to share high school experiences with younger students. I have also worked with them by babysitting, cheerleading and gymnastic camps. During retreats and camps, the younger students get to bond with the upper class men and their peers. It has been rewarding for me to receive positive feedback from the students and parents. I remind them they are not alone.

What else would you like to talk about?
I have a desire to give back to the community. I always strive to put others before myself and make their life better.
My career goal is to be a physical therapist. I want to help people get back on their feet after an injury. I want to help people get back into their sport or normal activity.

I have grown up being in gymnastics and cheerleading. I have always enjoyed being involved in athletics. By becoming a physical therapist, I hope I can encourage people to have optimal health and hope.

If you were to present a topic to a group of your peers, what would it be?
I would talk about how it is OK to be different. Rather than just fitting into a mold and being like everyone else, we should be who we are. We shouldn't be afraid to have our own ideas and thoughts. We shouldn't worry about what people think of us. Those differences are the very things that make us unique. I believe that everyone is loved and should be loved. The question seems to be, do you want to follow the crowd or be your own self?
How about being a light that shines out to those around

Where do you see yourself in 5 years/what are your plans?
In 5 years I see myself graduating from Texas Tech University and becoming a physical therapist. I hope to be a physical therapist because I love everything about sports, so to get to help someone back up on their feet and get back to the sport they love is huge to me. I love helping people, so this is one way that I would get to serve others and learn to help in a different way than I would normally or am used to.

What is your favorite activity or pastime that was not in your nomination?
One of my favorite activities is taking pictures. Yes, I love being in the pictures, but I love capturing little moments with my friends that one day hopefully I can share with my kids and new family. I love getting to look back on all the laughs and smiles that I have made during my memories with my friends and family and that is why I love capturing them in images.

3 Things on your bucket list
Three things on my bucket list are 1. Staying in Europe and Traveling for a long period of time. I have always wanted to travel and see places such as Rhome, Paris, and London. Their landscaping is so beautiful, and I want to get a chance to experience it through my own perspective. 2. Go on a photography trip. Sophomore year of high school I was supposed to attend a trip to Iceland for photography, but due to Covid the trip was canceled. Ever since that has been something I have wanted to experience and hope I can one day. 3. This one is a bit more common, but when I turn 18, I would like to skydive. I have always been interested in the experience, the view, and things leading up to the jump. The idea of free falling has always been absolutely terrifying, so I have always wanted to do this to get over my fear and have some fun while doing it.

Look for Brooklyn in issue 61 of Inspiring Teens Magazine!

click here for more information on issue 61

click here to nominate an inspiring teen