GOODFELLOW AIR FORCE BASE, Texas — Out of 20 Texas teenage applicants, San Angelo's Myshae Saem Allen, 16, received the Texas Military Youth of the Year award.
Since 1947, the Youth of the Year program has honored and celebrated the nation’s most inspiring teens and their incredible journeys.
Allen was born in Yongson U.S., an army base in Seoul, South Korea, and raised in San Angelo. His father retired from the United States Air Force and raised him to become the best leader possible.
“I believe the military is very important because they’re the ones who help protect our country. The times are really uncertain these days so it’s always important to have the support of the military,” Allen said.
The road to receiving this award includes being surrounded by the right people, having great leadership and learning the importance of discipline.
Allen is a part of the Goodfellow Youth Programs, which is the Goodfellow Air Force Base Boys and Girls Club which offers clubs, 4H projects, fitness activities, instructional classes, homeschool co-op and more.
While part of the program, Allen has been instrumental at GAFB - helping with numerous service projects such as writing, producing and editing a COVID-19 public service announcement in March 2020, building an aquaponics garden to help with nourishing plants on the base and volunteering his time after school.
Goodfellow Youth Programs School Edge Coordinator Thomas Engel said the program encourages children like Allen to take a chance and put themselves out there in life.
“It starts out just with life skills, helping them learn manners, and how to do simple things at a young age. Then when they get older, we start looking at how we can involve them in the program, allow them to have input, help them get to where they want to go and helping them connect with the right people so that they can be successful later in life. This is really what we pride ourselves on doing here at Goodfellow,” Engel sais.
Allen said he hopes to encourage more teens to believe in themselves and achieve any goals they may have.
"Remember that you really matter. I think a lot of people think, oh, you know, I'm just a kid or I'm just this or that, you know, no one's going to really look at me or I can't make a difference. But that's not true because I believe every single person can make a difference." Allen shared.
Each year, thousands of club teens participate in local, state and regional Youth of the Year events. Six teens, including five regional finalists and the National Military Youth of the Year, advance to Washington, D.C., for the National Youth of the Year Gala & Celebration Dinner, where one outstanding young person is named Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s national teen spokesperson.
Earning the National Military Youth of the Year in the future is one of Allen’s goals. For now, he plans to speak at West Texas primary and secondary schools to encourage students to follow their dreams like he did.