Knowing My Authentic Self

Our deepest wishes are whispers of our authentic selves.
We must learn to respect them.
We must learn to listen.
-Sarah Ban Breathnach

Anais Nin said, “There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” That “time” is your teenaged years when you realize you inherent worth and power. If we are healthy in mind and spirit, we fly. But if we harbor a sense of unwellness, we remain tight in the bud. Kristin Ingram, a public health expert and practicing RN, will lead a discussion in which we ask ourselves the questions… What is my deepest self telling me about the way I want to live my life? How am I responding to myself with respect and kindness? Am I honoring myself in the way I live my daily life? How does my sense of self empower me, bolstering me on the journey to becoming the women I’ve always wanted to be?  

Kristin Ingram RN BSN is an advocate and public health professional in the field of HIV/AIDS in Washington, D.C. As an independent consultant, and an RN/Medical Case Manager for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Kristin’s work is based on resepct and empowerment through counseling and educating patients from all walks of life. She serves on the Board of Directors of the D.C. chapter of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care. She has been a speaker and advocate for juvenile and social justice since the age of eighteen, and has a career focus on serving disadvantaged populations. She is pursuing a doctoral degree at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. She has worked at the NIH and with the Global Business Initiative on the policies that shaped President Obama’s PEPFAR strategy. She has lived and studied in West Africa, and was the youngest member – and only woman- of the lobbying delegation to Athens, Greece for the American Hellenic Institute. Kristin was Miss Virginia in 2005-2006, and became 3^rd Runner Up to Miss America after winning the Swimsuit competition and the national Community Service Award. She spent her year as Miss Virginia lobbying juvenile justice professionals and teaching LifeSkills Training within Virginia’s juvenile detention centers. She is the Executive Director of Miss D.C.’s Outstanding Teen within the Miss America Organization, focusing on service and scholarship for young women.

La Tonya Abrahams, Miss DC’s Outstanding Teen 2007, is in the first row on the right during Hampton-Sydney Game:

La Tonya Abrahams, Miss DC’s Outstanding Teen 2007, being interviewed as captain of her dance team at Hampton-Sydney:

Congratulations to our Outstanding Teen- Lauren Seely. She was elected Senior Class President at Edmund Burke. Not just another pretty face!