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Willa Young
President of the SB Council for Self-Esteem
Presentation to the SB Council for Self-Esteem - 10/21/05

Willa Young took the audience on a chronological trip of her life beginning with the death of her father which was four months prior to her birth.  With her entire family in mourning, Willa arrived.  She grew to be an extremely shy child who would only speak to her teacher in school and who began to limp before she was six years old. 

Willa was also a frightened child whose leg was put into a cast at Children’s Hospital in Pittsburg, PA with the hopes of healing the limp.  When the cast was removed, her leg had atrophied and the limp continued.  She remained afraid to talk, to walk or to use stairs for fear of tripping.  Then she and her family moved to Florida where Willa discovered the warm ocean and that she loved swimming.

Living on the water, in Miami Beach, FL, her daily routine now included swimming.  Willa developed a method of kicking and hopping to swim that strengthened her leg to the point that her limp was healed.  She became a strong and excellent swimmer.  When she was eight she was sent to a summer camp in the Berkshires with her sister for two months and though her sister was the “Camper from Heaven”, Willa was miserable.  She cried everyday! 

Then the following summer, it happened again.  The girls were returned to the Berkshires for camp.  Now that Willa was nine and somewhat more mature, she remembers asking herself the question, “What do I like about it here?  What is it here that works for me?”  She then noticed the lake.  Loving the water and swimming, she knew that the lake was what worked for her.

Willa excelled in her swimming classes and decided to swim across the lake.  This intention preceded the action and she became the first camper that had ever swum the lake!  Her performance enhanced her self-esteem and changed her mind about camp life. 

Now she needed some help in opening up to others.  Her mother was her prime supporter.  She coached Willa in conversation techniques telling her to look at people in the eyes, give a sincere compliment, and listen to their reply and to react to their response with another comment or question.  Willa learned this lesson well--so well that she decided to run for school Treasurer at Stevens College when she was 17.

She tied with another student who won the run-off with the great, though unusual, support of her name, Penny Money!  Willa’s, skills continued to catapult her self-esteem.  Her next goal was to become independent and she chose to become a dental hygienist.  She moved to Los Angeles, by herself. She traveled to Europe, Africa, Asia, Mexico and Japan with a girl friend. Willa found that seeing other countries broadened her knowledge of the world and its diverse population.  Working in a dental office, Willa gained even more confidence.  She found that she enjoyed talking to the patients and got to practice her people skills in listening and responding by noting changes in her patients’ body language. 

Willa believes that self-esteem is rhythmic.  Looking back from where she began to where she is and the hats she wears today, she can see the results of her many accomplishments.  Her most challenging job has been that of wife and mother.  She has raised a very accomplished son, Beau, a 22 year old at USC.  She feels our hearts are opened in relationships.

The happiness tips that Willa shared in her journey to self-esteem were to do what we love to do and do it well; to find a supporter, to look for what “works” for us and use that knowledge; and to learn to relate to others in conversation and through travel.  And finally, she admonished us to stop criticizing ourselves.  Rather than focus on what we don’t like, we need to focus on what we do like, admire and appreciate about ourselves and others.

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