Exclusive Essay by Jacqueline Uy:

Back in elementary school, there was always that one kid who, when asked what they wanted to be when they grew up, would say, “I want to be president.” That kid was me.

But as I got older I realized that what I really wanted to become was a journalist, specifically a foreign correspondent. Even with this, I never really thought that I would ever step foot in the White House, much less meet first lady Michelle Obama. So when the opportunity to do both arose, I reacted like any normal 16-year-old in my situation: I didn’t believe it. 

"Captivating and emotional from the first entry to the last, You Are Here is a compilation of journals, essays, poetry, descriptive writing, novel excerpts, songs, etc., covering topics ranging from growing up to love to infatuation to loneliness to despair."

As part of our Global Citizen program, Paperblanks® enjoys the opportunity to partner with some truly inspirational organisations. One such group is WriteGirl, “a community of women writers, [that] promotes creativity and self-expression to empower girls.”

Jacqueline Cablas Uy dreams of someday traveling the world to write newspaper stories that change lives. Growing up in a one-bedroom condo in Los Angeles, she often reads National Geographic and was inspired by the journalists who had the freedom to fly to exotic places and tell the world’s untold stories.

She always worried though that being a minority would limit her options, as she sensed a lack of Filipino American women at the top of the news business. But her WriteGirl mentor Katherine shows her she has the potential to break through barriers and declare her place in journalism.

The eyes of 16-year-old Jacqueline Uy glistened as First Lady Michelle Obama pulled her into a tight hug and whispered in her ear.

"She just told me to keep writing, and that her favorite thing to do was to write," said Uy, a member of WriteGirl, one of 12 after-school programs honored at the White House Nov. 22. "She told me to keep on dreaming, because someday I'll achieve my dreams and goals."

WriteGirl was honored by the White House in November 2013 with the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award, the highest honor such programs can receive in the United States. Executive Director and Founder Keren Taylor and WriteGirl participant Jacqueline Uy personally received the award from First Lady Michelle Obama in the East Room of the White House.

On Friday, First Lady Michelle Obama gave 12 after-school programs from across the country the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award. The award is the highest honor in the country for programs using the arts and humanities to help youth do better in school, keep them from dropping out, and raise their cultural awareness.

A program to help set girls at two Santa Clarita Valley probationary camps on the road to academic success through creative writing and mentoring has been honored at the White House by first lady Michelle Obama.

Representatives from WriteGirl, a nonprofit that serves girls at Camp Scott and Camp Scudder in Saugus, were presented Friday with the 2013 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program award by Obama in the East Room of the White House. WriteGirl was one of 12 organizations nationwide to receive the honor.

First Lady Michelle Obama honored a Southern California mentoring program Friday at the White House, giving a National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award to WriteGirl. The  organization matches at-risk teens with women writers. 

ATVN SPOTLIGHT: WriteGirl is a creative writing mentoring program for high school girls," said Keren Taylor, the Founder and Executive Director of WriteGirl. "We pair them with women writers so they get mentored.

Each week, Jeremy Rosenberg (@LosJeremy) asks, "How did you - or your family before you - wind up living in Los Angeles?"

This week he hears from Keren Taylor, Executive Director of WriteGirl.

The Etc. Stage at the L.A. Times Festival of Books kicked off its Sunday festivities with a presentation by WriteGirl, a Los Angeles-based organization founded by Keren Taylor to pair mentors with young girl writers and to encourage them to find empowerment through self-expression.

The focus of our first socialite spotlight is Keren Taylor, Founder and Executive Director of WriteGirl. WriteGirl was launched in December 2001 to bring the skills and energy of professional women writers to teenage girls who do not otherwise have access to creative writing or mentoring programs.