Rachael Clarke

“This program has taught me how to become a better person...

and it has helped me express my feelings in a healthy and safe way. I know for a fact that Inside Out has changed people for the better. Kids who felt that they didn't have anybody to talk to or anyone to listen to them have turned their lives around because they realized that they did. Thank you, Inside Out, for making me the person I am now: a responsible, self-loving soul who cares about helping others come Inside Out.”

-Rachael, Alumni Mentor, College Graduate

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A letter from Rachael, 2002:

Hello,

My name is Rachael and I am 17 years old. I was born on April 4th, 1985. I was attending the 32nd St. USC Visual and Performing Arts Magnet when I was enrolled in Inside Out. Now I am in 12th grade at Hamilton High School: Academy of Music with a 3.0 GPA. I am also an Alumni Mentor with Inside Out. The reason I wanted to become a mentor was because Inside Out had such an impact on me and it changed for the better and I wanted to give back to the future participants of Inside Out and help them just the way Inside Out helped me. Being a mentor gives me a sense of satisfaction and joy. That fact that I know that somehow I’m impacting the future and they’re looking up to me and looking to me for help and guidance. That’s what I’m getting out of it.

I plan to go to college and am thinking about USC, ASU, Florida State, UCLA, UCSD, UCSB, CSUN, among others. As for my future career... I’m considering being an actress or a dancer.

Let me tell you a little about my experience with Inside Out:

Clearest memory... When I was camping with Inside Out for the first time in the 6th grade, I had gotten there on Saturday instead of Friday. They had already finished the hike and were eating lunch. I could feel the tension a little bit and it turns out that all day people’s things were coming up missing. So Jonathan and Camille called an emergency meeting of the entire camp and explained to everybody that nothing like that had ever happened before and that they were really disappointed. It seemed as though the talk worked because everything that was missing reappeared. At the BBQ that night, it was a brand new atmosphere. Everybody ended up becoming friends.

Positive changes... My outlook on life is totally different. Inside out has helped me to realize that there is some positive ways to express yourself in a safe way for you and for others.

My experience also helped me think about the Arts, education, my community and the world.

The importance of the Arts... Because the arts are ways for everybody to express themselves in their own unique way.

Changes I’d like to see in the public education system... Inside Out Community Arts, money, and distributing money to schools based on need not greed.

Changes I’d like to see in my neighborhood... The sounds of gunfire, the gangs, and the violence.

Changes I’d like to see in Los Angeles... I would like to change the way society thinks about different races and the discrimination that people face on a daily basis. I would also like to see Los Angeles make changes where the changes would benefit the most and use the money that the City gets to fund programs like Inside Out; programs that would help the country’s future.

Changes I’d like to see in the world... The hatred that is taking so many innocent lives. The hostility and nonsense that clouds and surrounds us everyday.