LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — There's nothing wrong with a little summer fun, but for some kids their fun is also preparing them for a potential future career.
That's the case at Life Skills for Youth Incorporated (LSY), which is much more than just a camp, it's a program teaching kids to dream big.
So although the school year is over in their normal classrooms, these young minds are still open for the summer.
From the younger children, to the teens, there's nothing like seeing the light bulb turn on and shine light to all of life's possibilities.
"This week it has been oh, 'we're just coming to LSY to learn and have a good summer.' Now we're learning about things that could affect us in the future." 13-year-old Kendall May, a student at LSY, said
It's Health Academy week for the dozens of students at Life Skills for Youth, which is a 10 week summer experience designed for youth to engage in team building and leadership activities.
It's here where kids like May are learning everything from dental hygiene to mental health and even touching on topics they've experience first-hand.
"One of my friends had diabetes. She used to prick her finger and test her blood sugar. Kids that have diabetes can't have the same stuff that we can. Most of the time we take that stuff for granted, we don't realize until we can't have it how much it really, you know, brought us joy," May said.
She is soaking up the week alongside her instructors and fellow classmates.
And she already has aspirations that are reaching outside the program's walls.
"I want to be a pediatric doctor to help kids with diabetes or help kids that may have cancer, you know, brighten up their spirits, because that can really bring you down when you have an illness," May said.
She has her eyes on Louisiana State University or Alabama Tech.
While it may be a several years away before she gets there, teachers like Marilyn Harris are helping to strengthen Kendall's roots now.
"In the summer months, we look at different areas of study for them. Anywhere from medicine to technology, and we let them explore the possibilities of being scientists, doctors, research assistants, pediatricians, a surgeons," Harris said.
It's a chance to explore but making it a reality can be difficult if it's not something that they typically see in the real world.
"When I go to the doctor, I don't see many African American women doctors. I see a lot of nurses but I don't see a lot of African American women with a white coat," May said.
But at the end of this week, if Kendall wants to see a white coat then all she will need to do is look in the mirror as she'll be getting one of her own.
"This is their first white coat. We hope that when these students graduate from college, when they're 24-25 years old, they go back to the white coat that they had when they were 13 years old and say, you know, 'this is my first white coat,'" Harris said.
So as schools prepare to reopen for another year, kids like May are staying focused on what the future can bring.
"Even though you're not actually becoming a doctor, it's like preparing you to be like, 'oh, when I get older I'm gonna have this white coat [and] it's gonna have my name on it," May said.
The over 100 kids enrolled in the program will be receiving white coats during a ceremony that they'll be able to take home and keep as a souvenir.