HAGERSTOWN, Md. — "Your past does not dictate what you should be able to do when you walk out of these doors,” Robyn Murphy, managing partner for JRM Consultancy, told the group of 19 girls, ages 13 to 17, seated in front of her at the Western Maryland Children’s Center in Hagerstown.
They were surrounded by other staff, mostly female. The girls who reside at the only female juvenile detention facility were identifiable not only by their age, but by the matching white blouses they all wore. Many of them adorned their hair with a purple ribbon, joining in the Women’s History Month celebration that brought five successful women to their facility - a mayor, an entrepreneur, three business owners, and the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Juvenile Services.
Murphy’s message, and the message of the four other women at the event, resonated with the three teenage girls we spoke to. They each have big dreams for their future.
Legally, we can’t identify them, so we’re referring to them using their initials.
J.S. wants to join the Army. M.S. wants to work in the motor industry, specifically, Ford.
"Usually, every time I tell people like, 'Oh, I'm into cars,' they're like, 'I've never heard about a girl who likes cars.’ It's great to stand out because then you're noticed a little bit more than everybody else around,” she said.
J.G. wants to go to college for criminal justice, and eventually come back to work with young girls in facilities like this one.
"I want to be one of the people to say, 'I changed this, I made this better,’” J.G. said.
They find inspiriation in the hallways, where images of women who changed the world, like Harriet Tubman, Susan B. Anthony, and Mother Teresa, are hanging on the walls.
"The fact that they did so much and had a huge impact on history, you realize, like that could possibly be me,” J.G. said.
But they don't need to look to the past to find a role model. Today, they didn't even have to leave the building.
"When there’s a will, there’s a way. But when there ain’t no way, you gotta know how to make a way," Tionna Smalls, one of the speakers, an entrepreneur, author, and television personality, said.
It's not about how you started, it's how you finish," LaTonya Taylor, speaker, business coach, and owner of Taylor Made Properties, said.
"Some of them had to struggle to get where they are," M.S. said of the speakers.. And most of the young women here, we're all going through a struggle. So they're showing us examples of what we can become in the future. Your present doesn't determine your future."
“There are other people just like them; they are not alone," Taylor told WMAR-2 News after speaking. "It’s important for them to understand that there are stories out there that they an gravitate to and they can learn from. We all learn from stories; that’s our inspiration, that’s our empowerment, that’s how they grow, that’s how we’re able to see things differently. Everything is about what you’re exposed to, what you’re reading, what you’re hearing, what you’re seeing. Today, they were able to hear from some women who may not have started off strong, but we started."
And although these young women have started down the wrong path, they're determined not to finish there. The girls we've talked to have been here for five months or less, and they're already noticing positive changes in themselves. So have others in their lives.
M.S. says her lawyer, "noticed the respect, the way I carry myself in here, the way I react to things. I'm a little bit more mature than I used to be. I stop and think about things before I act. I've been doing better."
J.S. said, "It's been hard, there's been a lot of problems. But I'm learning a lot. How to respect, and communicate with people."
J.G. says her parents have noticed changes when they visit her each month: “They’re like - you’re not down no more, you’ve definitely changed. You’re more bubbly, your spirit’s higher. So they’ve seen I’m actually trying to work hard and get myself ready.”
